DNA Methylation-Based Testing in Liquid Biopsies as Detection and Prognostic Biomarkers for the Four Major Cancer Types
1
Cancer Biology & Epigenetics Group—Research Center, Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (CI-IPOP), 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
2
Master in Oncology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto (ICBAS-UP), 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
3
Department of Pathology, Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
4
Department of Pathology and Molecular Immunology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar–University of Porto (ICBAS-UP), 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Cells 2020, 9(3), 624; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9030624
Received: 20 February 2020
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Revised: 1 March 2020
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Accepted: 2 March 2020
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Published: 5 March 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Circulating DNA and Epigenetic Alterations as Biomarkers in Oncology)
Lung, breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers are the most incident worldwide. Optimal population-based cancer screening methods remain an unmet need, since cancer detection at early stages increases the prospects of successful and curative treatment, leading to a lower incidence of recurrences. Moreover, the current parameters for cancer patients’ stratification have been associated with divergent outcomes. Therefore, new biomarkers that could aid in cancer detection and prognosis, preferably detected by minimally invasive methods are of major importance. Aberrant DNA methylation is an early event in cancer development and may be detected in circulating cell-free DNA (ccfDNA), constituting a valuable cancer biomarker. Furthermore, DNA methylation is a stable alteration that can be easily and rapidly quantified by methylation-specific PCR methods. Thus, the main goal of this review is to provide an overview of the most important studies that report methylation biomarkers for the detection and prognosis of the four major cancers after a critical analysis of the available literature. DNA methylation-based biomarkers show promise for cancer detection and management, with some studies describing a “PanCancer” detection approach for the simultaneous detection of several cancer types. Nonetheless, DNA methylation biomarkers still lack large-scale validation, precluding implementation in clinical practice.
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Keywords:
lung cancer; breast cancer; colorectal cancer; prostate cancer; DNA methylation; biomarker; detection; prognosis; liquid biopsy; cell-free DNA
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MDPI and ACS Style
Constâncio, V.; Nunes, S.P.; Henrique, R.; Jerónimo, C. DNA Methylation-Based Testing in Liquid Biopsies as Detection and Prognostic Biomarkers for the Four Major Cancer Types. Cells 2020, 9, 624. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9030624
AMA Style
Constâncio V, Nunes SP, Henrique R, Jerónimo C. DNA Methylation-Based Testing in Liquid Biopsies as Detection and Prognostic Biomarkers for the Four Major Cancer Types. Cells. 2020; 9(3):624. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9030624
Chicago/Turabian StyleConstâncio, Vera, Sandra P. Nunes, Rui Henrique, and Carmen Jerónimo. 2020. "DNA Methylation-Based Testing in Liquid Biopsies as Detection and Prognostic Biomarkers for the Four Major Cancer Types" Cells 9, no. 3: 624. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9030624
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