The nine genes validated in tissues also showed a significantly higher frequency of tumor-specific hypermethylation in NSCLC plasma, as compared with the cancer-free plasmas, and a 5-gene set (APC, RASSF1A, CDH13, KLK10 and DLEC1) achieved a sensitivity of 83.64% and a specificity of 74.0% for cancer diagnosis.
Hypermethylation of DLEC1 was found in 41% (32/78) of NSCLC tissues, which was significantly higher than that of adjacent normal tissues (3.8%; 3/78) and benign lesions (0/25; P < .001).
It was further evidenced by an aberrant DLC-1 promoter methylation pattern, which was detected by Southern blotting in 73% (8/11) of NSCLC cell lines with downregulation of the gene.