Determination of rassf1a gene promoter methylation level in triple negative breast cancer

In sporadic human malignancies, RASSF1A is one of the tumor suppressor genes that most frequently undergo methylation. Hypermethylation of the highly frequent RASSF1A promoter association with cancer pathogenesis and a more aggressive clinical phenotype has been reported in many different malignancies. Triple negative breast cancer shows a more aggressive phenotype than other breast cancers and when the literature is investigated, strong findings are found that RASSF1A promoter hypermethylation is effective in breast cancer tumorigenesis. When considered together, RASSF1A methylation status may be a good potential biomarker for clinical assessment of cancer risk and prognosis. The purpose of this study is; determination of RASSF1A promoter methylation status in triple negative breast cancer. This study included 37 patients with triple negative breast cancer and 29 control group individuals. DNA methylation analysis was performed in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded triple negative breast cancer tissue specimens. Following DNA isolation and bisulfite application, DNA methylation was analyzed by real-time PCR. The frequency of RASSF1A gene methylation was %72,2 in the study group of triple negative breast cancer whereas the frequency was %37,9 in the control group (p=0,020). The results were similar with previous studies in the literature. In cancer group, RASSF1A methylation was not associated with histological grade, cancer stage, lymph node metastasis and tumor diameter.