Poor survival is associated with the methylated degree of zinc-finger protein 545 (ZNF545) DNA promoter in gastric cancer

Zinc-finger protein 545 (ZNF545) was identified as a gastric tumour suppressor and potentially independent prognostic factor. At the present study, we found that lower expression of ZNF545 was specific in gastric cancer (GC) tissues, and the inconsistently methylated levels of ZNF545 promoter were identified in the gastric cancer tissues. In the methylation-specific PCR (MSP) analysis cohort, we found that GC patients with hypermethylated ZNF545 promoter exhibited significantly shorter median OS than those with unmethylated ZNF545 promoter and those with hypomethylated ZNF545 promoter. In the other cohort, we also demonstrated that GC patients with three or more methylated CpG sites in the ZNF545 promoter were significantly associated with poor survival by using the bisulphite gene sequencing (BGS). The methylated degrees of five CpG sites (−232, −214, −176, −144 and −116) could also provide distinct survival discrimination of patients with GC. These findings indicated that the methylated CpG sites of the ZNF545 promoter could be used for the clinical prediction of the prognosis of GC.