Methylation in uveal melanoma

Epigenetic regulation of tumour suppressor genes provides an attractive mechanism for tumours in which mutations and structural changes are rare. The latter may apply to uveal melanoma for which little is known of the genes that contribute to tumour development. In the search for genes, uveal melanoma is often compared with its counterpart in the skin, cutaneous melanoma. One of the major cuteneous melanoma genes is the p16 encoding CDKN2A gene for which mutations and deletions are the major mechanisms of inactivation. Deletions and mutations in CDKN2A are, however, rare in uveal melanoma; still p16 expression is lacking in half of the cell lines.1 Using methylation analysis and methylation inhibition in cell culture, we have shown that the underlying mechanism of loss of p16 expression in these cell lines …