The aim of this study was to understand the clinicopathological and prognostic significance of promoter methylation of Fragile Histidine Triad (FHIT) gene in esophageal cancer.
We concluded that MSI is significantly related to the allelic loss in the FHIT/FRA3B region, but Msh2 might be unrelated to the progression or oncogenic process in esophageal cancer.
The fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene has been identified in a region at chromosome 3p14.2, which is deleted in many tumors, including esophageal cancer.
The FHIT gene, encompassing the FRA3B fragile site at chromosome 3p14.2, is a candidate tumor suppressor gene involved in multiple tumors, including esophageal carcinoma.
The authors previously discovered that methylation of the 5' CpG island of the FHIT gene was closely associated with transcriptional inactivation in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC); however, the clinical impact of the FHIT gene in esophageal carcinoma is still unknown.
We studied 46 pairs of esophageal primary tumors and corresponding normal squamous mucosa specimens by molecular genetic and immunohistochemical methods to investigate the role of the FHIT gene in esophageal carcinoma.