DNA methylation changes in atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, adenocarcinoma in situ, and lung adenocarcinoma.

Background: Aberrant DNA methylation is common in lung adenocarcinoma, but its timing in the phases of tumor development is largely unknown. Delineating when abnormal DNA methylation arises may provide insight into the natural history of lung adenocarcinoma and the role that DNA methylation alterations play in tumor formation.

Methodology/principal Findings: We used MethyLight, a sensitive real-time PCR-based quantitative method, to analyze DNA methylation levels at 15 CpG islands that are frequently methylated in lung adenocarcinoma and that we had flagged as potential markers for non-invasive detection.

Low level anti-Hu reactivity: A risk marker for small cell lung cancer?

Background: Previous experimental and laboratory studies have implicated antibodies against Hu proteins (anti-Hu) as a potential marker for small cell lung cancer (SCLC); there are no estimates of the association between anti-Hu and SCLC using a population-based design.

Methods: We used stored plasma specimens to evaluate anti-Hu reactivity in relationship to small cell lung cancer in a population-based case-control study. Using Western Blot analysis, we measured anti-Hu reactivity against recombinant Hu family member, HuD, in plasma samples from 41 SCLC cases and 79 controls individually matched for age, race, sex, and smoking status (never, past, current).

Identification of a panel of sensitive and specific DNA methylation markers for squamous cell lung cancer.

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in men and women in the United States and Western Europe. Over 160,000 Americans die of this disease every year. The five-year survival rate is 15% - significantly lower than that of other major cancers.

Identification of a panel of sensitive and specific DNA methylation markers for lung adenocarcinoma.

Background: Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer of both men and women in the United States. Three quarters of lung cancer patients are diagnosed with regionally or distantly disseminated disease; their 5-year survival is only 15%. DNA hypermethylation at promoter CpG islands shows great promise as a cancer-specific marker that would complement visual lung cancer screening tools such as spiral CT, improving early detection.

DNA methylation profile of 28 potential marker loci in malignant mesothelioma.

Patients with malignant mesothelioma (MM), an aggressive cancer associated with asbestos exposure, usually present clinically with advanced disease and this greatly reduces the likelihood of curative treatment. MM is difficult to diagnose without invasive techniques; the development of non-invasively detectable molecular markers would therefore be highly beneficial. DNA methylation changes in cancer cells provide powerful markers that are potentially detectable non-invasively in DNA shed into bodily fluids.

The role of DNA methylation in the development and progression of lung adenocarcinoma.

Lung cancer, caused by smoking in approximately 87% of cases, is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and Western Europe. Adenocarcinoma is now the most common type of lung cancer in men and women in the United States, and the histological subtype most frequently seen in never-smokers and former smokers. The increasing frequency of adenocarcinoma, which occurs more peripherally in the lung, is thought to be at least partially related to modifications in cigarette manufacturing that have led to a change in the depth of smoke inhalation.