[Correlation between methylation on SmaI locus of the CDKN2/p16 gene CpG island and lung cancer]

To study the relationship between the status of methylation of the CDKN2/p16 gene 5'-CpG island and lung cancer.

Genomic DNA was digested with methylation-sensitive enzyme SmaI and Southern blotting was applied to analyze the status of methylation of the CDKN2/p16 in 89 cases of lung cancer and 10 cases of normal lung tissue.

Of the 89 cases of lung cancer studied, the CDKN2/p16 gene was shown to be methylated in 15 cases (16.9%). It occurred in 12 of 42 p16 protein negative cases (28.6%), and in 3 of 47 p16 protein positive cases. The CDKN2/p16 gene was not shown to be methylated in 10 cases of normal lung tissue.

Methylation of the CDKN2/p16 gene 5'-CpG island may be an important mechanism for gene inactivation in lung cancer progression.