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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Genome-Wide Analysis of DNA Methylation in Gastrointestinal Cancer
07:50

Genome-Wide Analysis of DNA Methylation in Gastrointestinal Cancer

Published on: September 18, 2020

DAPK promotor methylation is an early event in colorectal carcinogenesis

Falk Mittag1, Doerthe Kuester, Michael Vieth

  • 1Department of Pathology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany.

Cancer Letters
|October 26, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Death-associated protein kinase (DAPK) promoter hypermethylation is frequent in colorectal cancer progression. This epigenetic change may be crucial in the early stages of colorectal carcinogenesis, impacting tumor development.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Epigenetics
  • Gastroenterology

Background:

  • Death-associated protein kinase (DAPK) is often inactivated via promoter hypermethylation in human cancers.
  • The role of DAPK inactivation in colorectal carcinogenesis remains largely uncharacterized.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the significance of DAPK promoter hypermethylation in colorectal carcinogenesis.
  • To determine the frequency of DAPK promoter methylation in different stages of colorectal neoplasia.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of 22 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded T1-colorectal carcinomas.
  • Macrodissection of normal colon mucosa, intraepithelial neoplasia, and carcinoma tissue from the same slices.
  • Assessment of DAPK promoter methylation status in dissected tissue areas.

Main Results:

  • DAPK promoter methylation was observed in 81.2% of carcinoma areas and 68.2% of intraepithelial neoplasia.
  • Adjacent normal colon mucosa showed DAPK promoter methylation in only 25% of cases (2/8).
  • A higher frequency of DAPK promoter methylation was found in neoplastic tissues compared to normal mucosa.

Conclusions:

  • DAPK promoter hypermethylation is a frequent event in colorectal carcinoma and intraepithelial neoplasia.
  • These findings suggest that DAPK promoter hypermethylation plays a significant role in the early stages of colorectal tumor progression.
  • Epigenetic silencing of DAPK may be an important mechanism in colorectal carcinogenesis.

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