RAS Association Domain Isoform A Gene (RASSF1A) Hypermethylation in Ovarian Cancer Patients of Kashmir Valley

BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer among women and it causes more deaths than any other type of female reproductive cancer. In the United States, approximately 22,430 new cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed annually. Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Infertile women and those with a condition called endometriosis, those who have never been pregnant and those who use postmenopausal estrogen replacement therapy are at increased risk. Among the causes of cancers, epigenetic change like hypermethylation of tumor suppressor genes has been one of the main routes for the development of cancer. The aim of this study was to identify promoter hypermethylation in CpG islands of RASSF1A gene in ovarian cancer patients among the Kashmiri population. METHODS: This was a hospital-based case-control study. We analyzed the methylation status of CpG islands in the RASSF1A gene in histopathologically confirmed ovarian cancer samples and histopathologically normal ovarian tissues using methylation specific polymerase chain reaction (MS-PCR). Chi square test with odds ratio was used to ascertain whether the results were statistically significant and a p- value <0.01 was considered statistically significant.