Methylation of SOX17 Gene in Plasma Circulating DNA and Its Correlation with Disease Status and Prognosis in Patients with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
Objective:To explore the relationship between SOX17 gene methylation in plasma circulating DNA and the disease condition and prognosis of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC).Methods:Thyroid cancer tissue and preoperative blood samples were collected from 152 PTC patients who underwent surgical resection between June 2022 and December 2023.Methylation-specific PCR(MSP)was used to de-tect SOX17 promoter methylation in PTC tissues and plasma circulating DNA.Results:MSP results showed that 71 out of 152 PTC tissue samples(46.7%)and 76 plasma circulating DNA samples(50.0%)exhibited SOX17 methylation.Spearman correlation analysis indicated a significant correlation between SOX17 methyla-tion in plasma circulating DNA and PTC tissues(r=0.382,P<0.001).SOX17 methylation in PTC tissue and plasma circulating DNA was significantly associated with tumor stages Ⅱ~Ⅲ,tumor size≥2cm,and lymph node metastasis(LNM)(P<0.05).Furthermore,SOX17 methylation in plasma circulating DNA was significantly related to the occurrence of extrathyroidal extension(ETE)(P<0.05).SOX17 methylation in plasma circulating DNA was identified as an independent factor influencing LNM and ETE in PTC patients(OR=9.564,2.744;95%CI=3.875~23.602,1.109~6.792,P<0.05).The predictive ability of SOX17 methylation in plasma circulating DNA for LNM and ETE was relatively high,with an area under the curve(AUC)of 0.731 and 0.630(sensitivity 74.0%,65.6%;specificity 72.2%,60.4%).In contrast,the pre-dictive ability of SOX17 methylation in PTC tissues for LNM and ETE was lower,with an AUC of 0.604 and 0.562(sensitivity 57.5%,54.1%;specificity 63.3%,58.2%).Conclusion:SOX17 promoter methylation in tumor tissue and plasma DNA exhibits high consistency during the occurrence and progression of PTC.Mo-reover,SOX17 promoter methylation in plasma DNA has a higher predictive value for LNM and ETE.
Papillary thyroid carcinomaSex-determining region Y-box 17PlasmaMethyla-tion-specific PCR