The promise of methylation on beads for cancer detection and treatment

Abstract

Despite numerous technical hurdles, the realization of true personalized medicine is becoming a progressive reality for the future of patient care. With the development of new techniques and tools to measure the genetic signature of tumors, biomarkers are increasingly being used to detect occult tumors, determine the choice of treatment and predict outcomes. Methylation of CpG islands at the promoter region of genes is a particularly exciting biomarker as it is cancer-specific. Older methods to detect methylation were cumbersome, operator-dependent and required large amounts of DNA. However, a newer technique called methylation on beads has resulted in a more uniform, streamlined and efficient assay. Furthermore, methylation on beads permits the extraction and processing of miniscule amounts of methylated tumor DNA in the peripheral blood. Such a technique may aid in the clinical detection and treatment of cancers in the future.

Keywords::

• biomarker
• cancer detection
• colon cancer
• CpG island methylation
• methylation on bead
• pancreatic cancer
• personalized medicine

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Guzzetta AA is supported by an NIH T32 Institutional Training Grant. Ahuja N is supported by the NIH grant NCI K23CA127141, the American College of Surgeons/Society of University Surgeons, Career Development Award and the Lustgarten Foundation. Wang TH is supported by the NIH grants R01CA155305 and U54CA151838. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Key issues

• Biomarkers are needed to detect tumors, determine choice of treatment and predict response.

• Methylation of CpG islands at the gene promoter region is a cancer-specific phenomenon with excellent promise for biomarkers.

• Methylation of several genes in pancreatic and colon cancer has been shown to have excellent specificity and sensitivity for the detection of early stage cancer.

• Older methods of methylation detection were cumbersome, operator-dependent and required large amounts of DNA.

• Methylation on beads is a technique that permits a more uniform, streamlined and efficient detection of DNA methylation.

• Methylation on beads is able to extract and process minute amounts of methylated DNA in the peripheral blood for downstream analysis. This may aid in the early detection of colon and pancreatic cancers in a clinical setting.

Notes