© 2012 Wichtig Editore - ISSN 0393-6155 Int J Biol Markers ( 2012; 4): e389-e394 27 - e389 SHORT COMMUNICATION new molecular markers for cancer detection as well as for novel therapeutical approaches. Gene silencing by CpG promoter methylation modulates cellular pathways by acting directly on tumor suppressor genes and indirectly on oncogenes through their regulators (3). The analysis of the methylation profiles in human cancer indicates that aberrant methylation of some of the CpG islands are shared by multiple tumor types, whereas others are methylated in a tumor type-specific manner (4, 5). Hoque et al (6) reported a new set of methylated candidate genes by using a promoter structure algorithm and microarray data generated from 22 cancer cell lines derived form 5 major cancer types. The newly identified cancer-specific methylated genes were analyzed in a panel of 300 primary tumors representing 13 types of cancer, which included only thyroid tumors as neural INTRODUCTION Carcinoid tumors arise from neuroendocrine cells. They are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms characterized by marked different clinical behavior. Melanoma is a cancer of the neural crest-derived cells that provide pigmentation to skin and other tissues. Malignant cutaneous melanoma often shows an aggressive phenotype, whereas the majority of carcinoids have an indolent clinical course with only a subset of the cases developing distant metastases and resistance to treatment (1, 2). CpG island aberrant methylation is one of the main mechanisms for inactivation of cancer-related genes in solid tumors. Several studies have shown that this epigenetic modification is an early event in carcinogenesis, representing an interesting target for the development of Aberrant genes promoter methylation in neural crest-derived tumors Annamaria la Torre 1* , Lucia Anna Muscarella 1* , Paola Parrella 1 , Teresa Balsamo 1 , Michele Bisceglia 2 , Vanna Maria Valori 3 , Antonella la Torre 1 , Raffaela Barbano 1 , Eleonora Perrella 4 , Maria Luana Poeta 5 , Gennaro Melchionda 6 , Giuseppe Merla 7 , Evaristo Maiello 3 , Riccardo Pellicano 8 , Vito Michele Fazio 1,5 *Dr. Lucia Anna Muscarella and Dr. Annamaria la Torre have equally contributed to this work. 1 Laboratory of Oncology, IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza” Hospital, San Giovanni Rotondo, Foggia - Italy 2 Department of Pathology, IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza” Hospital, San Giovanni Rotondo, Foggia - Italy 3 Department of Oncohaematology, IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza” Hospital, San Giovanni Rotondo, Foggia - Italy 4 Department of Pathology, University Campus BioMedico, Rome - Italy 5 Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotechnology, Interdisciplinary Center for Biomedical Research (CIR), Univer- sity Campus BioMedico, Rome - Italy 6 Dermatology Unit, Medical Science Department, IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza” Hospital, San Giovanni Ro- tondo, Foggia - Italy 7 Medical Genetic Service, IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza” Hospital, San Giovanni Rotondo, Foggia - Italy 8 Dermatology Unit, IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza” Hospital, San Giovanni Rotondo, Foggia - Italy ABSTRACT Disturbances in the epigenetic landscape by aberrant methylation of CpG islands can lead to inactivation of cancer-related genes in solid tumors. We analyzed the promoter methylation status of 6 genes previously reported as cancer-specific meth- ylated (MCAM, SSBP2, NISCH, B4GALT1, KIF1A and RASSF1A) in 38 neural crest-derived tumors by quantitative methyla- tion-specific real-time PCR (QMSP). The results demonstrated that the determination of the methylation status of RASSF1A is able to distinguish between normal and tumor samples in cutaneous melanomas, lung carcinoids and small bowel carcinoids. MCAM methylation levels were significantly higher in lung carcinoids tumors (p=0.001), suggesting that this alteration may represent a molecular biomarker in this tumor type. Key words: MCAM, Methylation, Neural crest-derived tumors, RASSF1A Received: March 14, 2012; Accepted: August 22, 2012 DOI: 10.5301/JBM.2012.9766