Background: Nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the leading incidence and mortality of malignant tumors worldwide. While aberrant DNA methylation is a frequent event occurred during NSCLC carcinogenesis and development, therefore holding the potential to predict the process of tumor development. This study aims to explore the feasibility of gene nidogen 2 (NID2) as the diagnostic biomarker for NSCLC.
Materials and methods: Quantitative methylation specific polymerase chain reaction of NID2 has been done among the following sample panels: For tissue methylation evaluation, we collected 96 cases of NSCLC versus 18 cases of noncancerous lung lesions (NCLLs); 46 from the 96 NSCLC patients also provided DNA of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and plasma sample, the methylation status of which are assessed against 12 cases of NCLL for BAL and 30 cases of NCLL for plasma samples, respectively.
Results: The methylation rate of NID2 in NSCLC versus NCLL is evaluated as: In tissue 59.40% versus 16.67%, (P = 0.0001); in BAL 30.43% versus 16.67% (P = 0.1640); in plasma 45.65% versus 20.00% (P = 0.0191).
Conclusions: Our study revealed the frequent occurrence of aberrant NID2 methylation in NSCLC and peripheral blood, which might be useful as a biomarker to predict NSCLC or to screen the high-risk population for NSCLC.
Keywords: Bronchoalveolar lavage; DNA methylation; nidogen 2; nonsmall cell lung cancer; plasma; quantitative methylation specific polymerase chain reaction.