The clinical significance of FAM19A4 methylation in high-risk HPV-positive cervical samples for the detection of cervical (pre)cancer in Chinese women

• Published in: BMC cancer 2018-11, Vol.18 (1), p.1182-1182, Article 1182
• Main Authors: Bu, Qiaowen, Wang, Sanfeng, Ma, Jian, Zhou, Xiangcheng, Hu, Guiying, Deng, Hua, Sun, Xiaoli, Hong, Xiaoshan, Wu, Hengying, Zhang, Liang, Luo, Xiping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asian Continental Ancestry Group - genetics; Biomarkers; Cancer research; Cellular biology; Cervical cancer; Cervical carcinoma; Cervix dysplasia; Cervix Uteri - virology; Clinical significance; Complications and side effects; Cytokines - genetics; Cytology; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Diagnosis; DNA; DNA methylation; DNA Methylation - genetics; Epigenetics; FAM19A4; Female; Genetic aspects; Genotype; Genotyping; Health aspects; Health risk assessment; HPV genotyping; Human papillomavirus; Humans; Infections; Medical screening; Methylation; Middle Aged; Papillomaviridae - pathogenicity; Papillomavirus infections; Papillomavirus Infections - genetics; Papillomavirus Infections - virology; Population studies; Quantitative PCR (qPCR); Retrospective Studies; Risk; Studies; Tumor markers; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - genetics; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - virology; Vaginal Smears - methods
• ISSN: 1471-2407; 1471-2407
• DOI: 10.1186/s12885-018-4877-5

To explore the diagnostic value of FAM19A4 methylation in high-risk human papilloma virus (hrHPV)-positive cervical samples from Chinese women for estimating cervical cancer or its precancerous lesions. Cervical samples from 215 women infected with high-risk HPV were collected by smear testing. We purposely chose 61 patients with cervical cancer, 57 with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL), 31 with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), and 66 without cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) after histological confirmation. Taqman probe-based quantitative PCR (qPCR) was utilized to detect the methylation status of FAM19A4 in the cervical samples and further evaluate the use of this gene in the diagnosis of cervical cancer. (1) An increasing level of FAM19A4 methylation was detected with increasing progression of cervical lesions, with methylation rates of 10.61%(7/66), 35.48%(11/31), 56.14%(32/57) and 93.44%(57/61) in no CIN, LSIL, HSIL and cervical carcinoma samples respectively. (2) In all hrHPV-positive samples, the levels of FAM19A4 methylation in HPV16/18 groups were higher than that in 12 other hrHPV groups (P 0.05). (3)There were no significant differences of FAM19A4 methylation in different clinicopathological parameters of cervical cancer. (4) Though the sensitivity of FAM19A4 methylation test was inferior to that of cytology and FAM19A4 combining with HPV16/18 genotyping, but showed the best specificity with 81.44% both for detection HSIL alone and ≥ HSIL, with favorable youden index (YI) and area under curve (AUC). FAM19A4 is a specific biomarker of cancerous lesions of the cervix. FAM19A4 methylation analysis may serve as an auxiliary screening method for diagnosis of cervical (pre)cancer. However, in consideration of the limitations of this retrospective study, prospective population-based studies are necessary for further confirmation of the diagnostic value of FAM19A4 methylation for detection of cervical (pre)cancer in Chinese women.