Editorial
Copyright ©2011 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Jan 10, 2011; 2(1): 1-7
Published online Jan 10, 2011. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v2.i1.1
Eagles report: Developing cancer biomarkers from genome-wide DNA methylation analyses
Wolfgang A Schulz, Wolfgang Goering
Wolfgang A Schulz, Wolfgang Goering, Department of Urology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany
Author contributions: Schulz WA and Goering W researched the literature and wrote the paper.
Supported by The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Deutsche Krebshilfe
Correspondence to: Wolfgang A Schulz, PhD, Professor, Department of Urology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany. wolfgang.schulz@uni-duesseldorf.de
Telephone: +49-211-8118966 Fax: +49-211-8115846
Received: July 28, 2010
Revised: August 26, 2010
Accepted: September 2, 2010
Published online: January 10, 2011
Abstract

Analyses of DNA methylation in human cancers have identified hypermethylation of individual genes and diminished methylation at repeat elements as common alterations, and have thereby provided important mechanistic insights into cancer biology as well as biomarkers for cancer detection, prognosis and prediction of therapy responses. The techniques available in the past were best suited for investigations of individual candidate genes and sequences, whereas recently developed high-throughput techniques promise to generate unbiased and comprehensive surveys of DNA methylation states across entire genomes. In this minireview we give a short overview of established and novel techniques and outline some major questions that can now be addressed to develop further cancer biomarkers and therapies based on DNA methylation.

Keywords: Bisulfite, CpG-island, Deep sequencing, DNA hypermethylation, Hypomethylation, Methylcytosine-binding domain