Moreover, the effects of OCPs exposure on HCC risk are more pronounced amongst GSTP1 (Ile/Val + Val/Val) and GSTP1 promoter methylation subjects than those who were GSTP1 (Ile/Ile) and unmethylated subjects.
GSTP1 is a largely investigated tissue biomarker in several malignancies such as prostate, breast, lung and hepatocellular carcinoma with good performances especially for diagnostic purposes.
Compared with normal liver tissue and cirrhosis, the pooled ORs of GSTP1 promoter region methylation in HBV-related HCC cancer tissues were 6.05 (95% CI =1.20-30.52) and 5.21 (95% CI =2.19-12.41), respectively.
The results of this meta-analysis suggest that GSTP1 hypermethylation induces the inactivation of GSTP1 gene, plays an important role in hepatocarcinogenesis, and is associated with an increased risk of HCC.
Further analyses using methylation-specific PCR, combined with expression analysis, in the validation set of primary HCC showed that, in addition to three known tumor-suppressor genes (APC, CDKN2A, and GSTP1), eight genes (AKR1B1, GRASP, MAP9, NXPE3, RSPH9, SPINT2, STEAP4, and ZNF154) were significantly hypermethylated and downregulated in the HCC tumors compared to the non-tumor liver tissues.
Under abnormal conditions the excessive reactive oxygen species generation results in genetic predisposition of various genes (as ADH, ALDH, CYP2E1, GSTT1, GSTP1 and GSTM1) involved in xenobiotic metabolic pathways, associated with susceptibility to different liver related diseases such as fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Two SNPs (GSTO2: rs7085725 and GSTP1: rs4147581) were significantly associated with overall survival in HCC patients (P = 0.035 and 0.042, respectively).
Our meta-analysis suggested strong associations between APC, GSTP1 and SOCS1 gene promoter methylation and the risk of HCC, suggesting these to be promising biomarkers for HCC.
The promoter methylation status of ELF, RASSF1A, p16, and GSTP1 was investigated by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 34 paired HCC and nontumor liver tissue from HCC patients and 10 tissues from patients with liver cirrhosis (LC).
In conclusion, the meta-analysis suggests that there is little evidence for the association between GSTP1Ile105Val polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma risk.
Importantly, our analysis revealed an association between alcohol intake and the hypomethylation of MGMT and between hypermethylation of GSTP1 and HBV infection, indicating that hypermethylation of the genes analyzed in HCC tumors exhibits remarkably distinct patterns depending on associated risk factors.
The methylation frequencies of the ten genes examined in HCC were 40.0% for p14 ( ARF ), 60.9% for p15 ( INK4b ), 70.4% for p16 ( INK4a ), 34.8% for p73, 70.4% for GSTP1, 64.3% for MGMT, 13.0% for hMLH1, 59.1% for RARbeta, 82.6% for SOCS-1, and 80.9% for OPCML.
AG and GG alleles of GSTP1 gene polymorphisms may be considered as factors increasing the susceptibility to and risk of HCC in Taiwanese aged < or = 57 years.
In conclusion, hypermethylation of some specific, but not all, tumor associated genes may be involved in hepatocarcinogenesis; examination of the methylation status of E-cadherin, GSTP1, P16, and RASSF1A in the plasma samples might have limited usage for HCC diagnosis.
The frequency of GSTP1 promoter hypermethylation is significantly higher in HCC than in nontumorous tissues (p = 0.022) from HBsAg-positive patients, but not the HBsAg-negative controls (p = 0.289).