Assessment of PTCH1a promoter methylation in BCC carcinogenesis

Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) is the most common cancer in humans. It is known that PTCH1 mutations in Sonic Hedgehog pathway play significant role in BCC pathogenesis. However PTCH1 (Patched) inactivation through promoter methylation is still under investigation. In this study, promoter methylation of the PTCH1 gene was analysed by Combined Bisulphite Restriction Analysis in 10 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) BCC tissues. There was no methylation in any of the samples. Results suggest that PTCH1 promoter methylation is not effective in BCC carcinogenesis and FFPE tissues are not suitable for methylation analysis since 44 specimens were included in the study and only 10 of them gave result.