Role of determination of molecular genetic markers in the diagnosis and prediction of the course of cervix uteri diseases

Abstract

Forty-six patients with various cervix uteri (CU) diseases were examined and treated. The examinees’ age was 21 to 72 years (mean age 37.4 ± 1.1 years).In 16 patients, the rate of N33, MLH1, p16 gene hypermethylation was determined in the tissue samples of the CU in its various dis- eases: there was hypermethylation of the p16 (83%) and MLH1 (66%), and N33 (33%) genes in CU leukoplakia; the p16 (100%) and MLH1 (100%), and N33 (62%) genes in CU dysplasia, and the p16 (100%) and MLH1 (50%), and N33 (50%) genes in squamous cell carcinoma of the CU.A follow-up of patients with established gene hypermethylation revealed a recurrence in 50% of cases of CU leukoplasia and in 37.5% of cases of CU dysplasias. No recurrences were observed in a group of 30 patients without abnormal gene methylation in CU tissues during the follow-up.

Keywords

• cervix uteri diseases
• diagnostic methods
• tumor growth suppressor genes
• hypermethylation