Molecular evaluation of a multiplex methylation panel for epigenetic analysis of FNAB samples from Greek patients with suspicious breast lesions.

Purpose: Aberrant DNA methylation in promoter regions has been found in many cancers, including breast cancer (BC). A Methylation Specific PCR (MSP) was applied in breast Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy (FNAB) material, which has been rarely used in the literature, to estimate the methylation frequencies of CND2, APC, HIN1 & CDH13 and to assess whether this multiplex methylation panel can be possibly used as an indicator-biomarker for BC detection in a Greek population.

Methods: A total of 104 participants were subjected to FNAB and both cytological evaluation and epigenetic analysis were carried out.

DNA methylation patterns of RAR-β2 and RASSF1A gene promoters in FNAB samples from Greek population with benign or malignant breast lesions.

Background: Promoter hypermethylation is common in Breast Cancer (BC) with studies mainly in histological specimens showing frequent methylation of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) compared with normal tissues. The aim of this study was to estimate the frequency of promoter methylation of RAR-β2 and RASSF1A genes in breast FNAB material aiming to evaluate the methylation status of these two genes as biomarker for detecting BC in Greek population.

Methods: FNAB material from 104 patients was collected for cytological evaluation and epigenetic analysis.