Association of CHFR Promoter Methylation with Disease Recurrence in Locally Advanced Colon Cancer

Purpose: This study was designed to determine whether DNA methylation biomarkers are associated with recurrence and survival in colon cancer patients. Experimental Design: A retrospective analysis of 82 patients who received curative surgical resection for American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) high-risk stage II or III colon cancer (1999–2007) was conducted. DNA methylation status was quantitatively evaluated by the pyrosequencing method. We preselected three tumor suppressor genes and one locus of interest; CHFR, ID4, RECK, and MINT1. Mean methylation levels of multiple CpG sites in the promoter regions were used for analysis; 15% or more was defined as methylation positive. The association of recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) with methylation status was analyzed by the log-rank test, Kaplan–Meier method, and Cox proportional hazards model. Results: Methylation levels of ID4, MINT1, and RECK did not correlate with RFS or OS. CHFR was methylation positive in 63% patients. When methylation status was dichotomized (negative or low: Conclusions: The extent of CHFR promoter methylation correlates with RFS, indicating it is a promising epigenetic marker for recurrence. Clin Cancer Res; 17(13); 4531–40. ©2011 AACR.