Analysis of promoter methylation in miR-34a gene for early detection of colorectal tumors in stool of patients with colorectal cancer

Abstract

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the world. Genes involved in various cellular processes such as cell cycle, apoptosis and cell migration play important roles in the process of carcinogenesis in the colon. miR-34a is one of the important genes whose expression and epigenetic changes have so far been evaluated in several cancers. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to investigate the relative level of methylation of this gene in the stool specimens of patients with colorectal cancer.Material and method:In this study, stool samples were collected from 40 colorectal cancer patients and40 healthy controls. After collecting the DNA of the samples, the extracts were treated by sulfite method and the methylation of the target site was evaluated by met-HRM method. Differences in methylation level of the two groups were evaluated by appropriate statistical tests. P value <0.05 was considered significant.Results:The relative methylation rate of the studied gene in tumor specimens was higher than that of healthy ones and this difference was significant in the interval of care. Methylation changes of this gene were not associated with any of the clinicopathologic features of the patients.