Molecular analysis of plasma DNA for the early detection of lung cancer by quantitative methylation-specific PCR.

Purpose: Aberrant promoter hypermethylation of tumor suppressor genes is a promising marker for lung cancer detection. We investigated the likelihood of detecting aberrant DNA methylation of tumor suppressor genes in plasma samples of patients with abnormalities of the lung detected upon computed tomography (CT) scan.

Experimental Design: In a small evaluation cohort, four gene promoters (DCC, Kif1a, NISCH, and Rarb) were found to be methylated with increased frequency in samples from cancer patients specifically.