The research for the classification by molecular biology and the development of a novel therapy in squamous cell carcinomas of the skin

2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 15591180
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Dermatology
• Research Institution: The University of Tokushima
• Principal Investigator: KUBO Yoshiaki The University of Tokushima, Health Biosciences, Dermatology, Assistant Professor, 大学院・ヘルスバイオサイエンス研究部, 講師 (10260069)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): MURAO Kazutoshi The University of Tokushima, Health Biosciences, Dermatology, Instructor, 大学院・ヘルスバイオサイエンス研究部, 助手 (40363171)
• Project Period (FY): 2003 – 2004
• Keywords: squamous cell carcinoma(SCC) / Promoter hypermethylation / cancer-related genes / E-cadherin / p16^<INK4a> / pRb

Research Abstract

Squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) of the skin are supposed to develop through the multistep process that involves activation of proto-oncogenes and/or inactivation of tumor suppressor genes in the human skin keratinocytes. Recently, in addition to gene mutations and chromosomal abnormalities, epigenetic inactivation due to aberrant DNA promoter methylation of cancer-related genes has been revealed to be a common and important feature of several cancers. In this study, we analyzed promoter methylation status of E-cadherin, p16^<INK4a>, p14^<ARF>, p15, pRb, DAPK, MGMT, RASSF1A, RIZ1, and PTEN by means of bisulfite PCR using DNA samples from 20 cases of SCCs of the skin. Promoter methylation was detected in 19/20 (95%), 4/20 (20%), 3/20 (15%), 1/20 (5%), 1/20 (5%), 3/20 (15%), 3/20 (15%), 1/20 (5%), 0/20 (0%), and 0/20 (0%), respectively. These findings indicate that epigenetic inactivation of cancer-related genes might be a common feature of SCCs of the skin and have some relevance to the carcinogenesis in SCCs of the skin.