Correlation of the promoter hypermethylation of RASSF1A in human cardiac cancer

Objective To Study the correlation of the promoter hypermethylation of RASSF1A in human cardiac cancer.Methods RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA expressions of RASSF1A in 35 cardiac cancer(group A)and 20 normal cardiac tissue(group B).The promoter methylation status of RASSF1A was examined by a methylation-specific PCR.Results RASSF1A expression was negative in 25(71%)cases of group A,which was significantly greater than 3(15%)cases of group B(P0.05).The frequence of the promoter hypermethylation of RASSF1A was 62% in group A,which was significantly higher than 20% in group B(P0.05).Conclusion The promoter hypermethylation of RASSF1A in human cardiac cancer plays an important role in down regulation of RASSF1A expression,which might be involved in the process of developing cardiac cancer.