Clinical value of PTEN gene methylation in laryngeal carcinoma and its effect on the biological behavior of laryngeal carcinoma cells

WANG Aihua; FAN Dandan; WU Junye

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-7386.2025.03.002

Abstract：Objective To study the clinical value of phosphatase and tensin homolog(PTEN)gene methylation in laryngeal carcinoma and its effect on the biological behavior of laryngeal carcinoma cells.Methods Patients with laryngeal carcinoma(LGC group)and patients with benign laryngeal diseases diagnosed and treated from Jan 2016 to Dec 2017 were selected as the research subjects.The oligonucleotide sequences(MON,UMON and CON)were transfected into the laryngeal carcinoma cell line Hep-2.Methylation-specific PCR(MSP)was used to detect the methylation status of PTEN gene.The correlation between PTEN gene methylation and clinicopathological factors of laryngeal carcinoma was identified.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves were depicted to analyze the potential of PTEN methylation in predicting the mortality of laryngeal carcinoma.Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were conducted to analyze risk factors for the mortality of laryngeal carcinoma.Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to illustrate the relationship between PTEN gene methylation and survival.Cell proliferation,migration and invasion were examined by cell counting kit-8(CCK-8)assay,wound healing assay and Transwell assay,respectively.Results The methylation rate of PTEN gene in LGC tissues was significantly higher than that of the paracancerous tissues and controls(72.92％vs.8.33％vs.8.00％,x2=108.215,P＜0.01).The PTEN gene was methylated in the laryngeal carcinoma cell lines TU138 and TU212,but unmethylated in Hep-2 and NHLEC cells.The PTEN gene methylation rate was significantly higher in LGC patients with poor differentiation,maximum tumor diameter ≥3cm,lymph node metastasis,and TNM staging Ⅲ+Ⅳ than those of counterparts(P＜0.05).The sensitivity,specificity,and area under the curve(AUC)of PTEN gene methylation in predicting the mortality of laryngeal carcinoma were all significantly higher than those of the degree of tumor differentiation,maximum tumor diameter,lymph node metastasis,and tumor-node-metastasis(TNM)staging(Z/P=3.267/0.016,4.022/0.007,3.728/0.011 and 3.452/0.013,respectively).PTEN gene methylation,poorly differentiated tumor,maximum tumor diameter≥3cm,lymph node metastasis,and TNM staging Ⅲ+Ⅳ were independent risk factors for the mortality of laryngeal carcinoma(P＜0.05).The PTEN gene was methylated in Hep-2 cells after transfection with MON,but unmethylated after transfection with UMON and CON.The cell proliferation activity,cell migration number and invasion number of Hep-2 cells transfected with MON were significantly higher than those transfected with UMON or CON(P＜0.05).Conclusion PTEN gene methylation can promote the proliferation,migration and invasion of laryngeal carcinoma cells.PTEN gene hypermethylation is closely related to the disease condition and prognosis of laryngeal carcinoma,and it can be used as a marker for evaluating the disease condition and prognosis of laryngeal carcinoma.