Methylation of the DFNA5 gene is frequently detected in colorectal cancer.

Recently, the human deafness, autosomal dominant 5 gene, DFNA5, has frequently been detected in cancer tissues. The methylation status of the DFNA5 gene in colorectal cancer was examined and was compared to the clinocopathological findings. Eighty-five tumor samples and corresponding normal tissues were obtained from patients with colorectal cancer who underwent surgery at our hospital. The methylation status of the DFNA5 gene in these samples was examined by quantitative methylation-specific PCR (qMSP). Subsequently, the clinicopathological findings were correlated with the methylation status of the DFNA5 gene. DFNA5 gene methylation was found in 29 (34%) out of the 85 colorectal carcinomas, suggesting that it was frequently observed in colorectal cancer. A significant correlation with methylation was observed for lymphatic vessel invasion and TNM stage (p=0.0268 and p=0.0189, respectively). DFNA5 might act as a tumor suppressor gene and DFNA5 gene methylation might play an important role in the development of colorectal cancer. Our data implicate DFNA5 gene methylation as a novel molecular biomarker in colorectal cancer.