DNA methylation as a biomarker for the identification of liver cancer
DNA methylation as a biomarker for the identification of liver cancer
Leila Abkhooie,1,*Shiva Mohammadi,2
1. Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Medicine, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences 2. Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Medicine, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences
Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant cancer with high prevalence worldwide. The pathogenesis and progress of HCC is closely related to the unusual epigenetic regulation of hepatocytes. DNA methylation is a regulatory mechanism that is important in epigenetic studies and has been the subject of much research. In our review, the association of DNA methylation with the development and progression of liver cancer was investigated.
Methods: Reliable scientific sites and sources such as Scopus, Google Scholar, and PubMed were used to conduct this study.
Results: Investigation and study of traditional clinical factors and DNA methylation profile can be important in detecting neoplastic transformation at early stages in HCC-risk populations. As a result, CpG methylation can have an important application in the prognosis of HCC. Using DNA methylation profiles, clinical prediction can be provided in pre-treatment patient biopsies or plasma DNA.
Conclusion: Epigenetic changes and profiles such as DNA methylation can be related to biological characteristics of cancers and clinical symptoms of HCC patients. DNA methylation profiles can be used as surrogate biomarkers in clinical cancer studies.
Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), DNA methylation, epigenetics