Abstract

BACKGROUND
RUNX3 is expressed throughout the luminal gastrointestinal tract. RUNX3 is on chromosome 1p36, a location considered to carry an important tumor suppressor for many types of cancers. Epigenetic silencing of RUNX3 is causally related to human gastric cancer.
METHODS
Colorectal cancers, adenoma, and the corresponding normal mucosa were obtained from 26 individual patients. To identify methylation of RUNX3 in colonic carcinogenesis, methylation-specific PCR was performed.
RESULTS
RUNX3 methylation was found in one case of colonic carcinoma. The normal mucosa and tubular adenoma of this case had no methylation. No other cases were found to have methylations.
CONCLUSIONS
These results are very different from the findings of gastric carcinomas, where frequent DNA methylation in the vicinity of the RUNX3 promoter is found. Although, the possibility of a role of RUNX3 methylation in the colon can not be completely ruled out, these results suggest that methylation of the RUNX3 promoter region might not contribute to the adenoma-carcinoma sequence of the colon.

• Keywords: RUNX3;Methylation;Colon;