Functional identification of cancer-specific methylation of CDO1, HOXA9, and TAC1 for the diagnosis of lung cancer.

Purpose: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer mortality in the world. Novel diagnostic biomarkers may augment both existing NSCLC screening methods as well as molecular diagnostic tests of surgical specimens to more accurately stratify and stage candidates for adjuvant chemotherapy. Hypermethylation of CpG islands is a common and important alteration in the transition from normal tissue to cancer.

Epigenetic inactivation of the canonical Wnt antagonist SRY-box containing gene 17 in colorectal cancer.

SRY-box containing gene 17 (Sox17) is a member of the high mobility group (HMG) transcription factor superfamily, which plays critical roles in the regulation of development and stem/precursor cell function, at least partly through repression of Wnt pathway activity. Modulators controlling aberrant Wnt signaling activation are frequently disrupted in human cancers through complementary effects of epigenetic and genetic changes. Our recent global analysis of CpG island hypermethylation and gene expression in colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines revealed that SOX17 gene silencing is associated with DNA hypermethylation of a CpG island in the promoter region.

DNA methylation markers and early recurrence in stage I lung cancer.

Background: Despite optimal and early surgical treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), many patients die of recurrent NSCLC. We investigated the association between gene methylation and recurrence of the tumor.

Methods: Fifty-one patients with stage I NSCLC who underwent curative resection but who had a recurrence within 40 months after resection (case patients) were matched on the basis of age, NSCLC stage, sex, and date of surgery to 116 patients with stage I NSCLC who underwent curative resection but who did not have a recurrence within 40 months after resection (controls).

Methylation-induced silencing of ASC/TMS1, a pro-apoptotic gene, is a late-stage event in colorectal cancer.

The hypermethylation of tumor-suppressor gene promoter regions has been shown to result in the epigenetic inactivation of many genes. ASC/TMS1 is a pro-apoptotic gene that has been shown to be methylated in many different human neoplasms. The methylation status of ASC/TMS1 was analyzed in a series of colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines, adenomas and primary colorectal cancers and normal colorectal tissue samples using methylation-specific PCR (MSP).

Hypermethylation of ASC/TMS1 is a sputum marker for late-stage lung cancer.

DNA hypermethylated gene promoter sequences are extremely promising cancer markers. Their use for risk assessment, early diagnosis, or prognosis depends on the timing of this gene change during tumor progression. We studied this for the proapoptotic gene ASC/TMS1 in lung cancer and used the findings to develop a sputum marker.