Role of RASSF1A Promoter Methylation in the Pathogenesis of Ovarian Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

Objective: The aim of the current meta-analysis was to comprehensively assess the role of RASSF1A promoter methylation in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer. Method: A range of electronic databases were searched: Web of Science (1945-2013), the Cochrane Library Database (Issue 12, 2013), PubMed (1966-2013), EMBASE (1980-2013), CINAHL (1982-2013), and the Chinese Biomedical Database (1982-2013) without language restrictions. Meta-analysis was conducted using the STATA 12.0 software. The crude odds ratio (OR) with its corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated. Results: Twelve clinical cohort studies with a total of 739 ovarian cancer patients were included in the current meta-analysis. The results of our meta-analysis suggested that the frequency of RASSF1A promoter methylation in cancer tissues was higher compared with benign, adjacent, and normal tissues (cancer tissues vs. benign tissues: OR=9.92, 95% CI: 7.67-12.82, p < 0.001; cancer tissues vs. adjacent tissues: OR=68.15, 95% CI: 39.30-118.18, p < 0.001; cancer tissues vs. normal tissues: OR=30.71, 95% CI: 23.12-40.80, p < 0.001; respectively). Subgroup analysis based on ethnicity and sample types revealed that RASSF1A gene methylation was closely associated with the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer in all subgroups (all p < 0.05). Conclusion: Our findings indicated that abnormal RASSF1A promoter methylation may be strongly correlated with the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer.