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Methylome analysis identifies a Wilms tumor epigenetic biomarker detectable in blood

Charlton, J; Williams, RD; Weeks, M; Sebire, NJ; Popov, S; Vujanic, G; Mifsud, W; ... Pritchard-Jones, K; + view all (2014) Methylome analysis identifies a Wilms tumor epigenetic biomarker detectable in blood. Genome Biology , 15 , Article 434. 10.1186/s13059-014-0434-y. Green open access

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Wilms tumor is the most common pediatric renal malignancy and there is a clinical need for a molecular biomarker to assess treatment response and predict relapse. The known mutated genes in this tumor type show low mutation frequencies, whereas aberrant methylation at 11p15 is by far the most common aberration. We therefore analyzed the epigenome, rather than the genome, to identify ubiquitous tumor-specific biomarkers. RESULTS: Methylome analysis of matched normal kidney and Wilms tumor identifies 309 preliminary methylation variable positions which we translate into three differentially methylated regions (DMR) for use as tumor-specific biomarkers. Using two novel algorithms we show that these three DMRs are not confounded by cell type composition. We further show that these DMRs are not methylated in embryonic blastema but are intermediately methylated in Wilms tumor precursor lesions. We validate the biomarker DMRs using two independent sample sets of normal kidney and Wilms tumor and seven Wilms tumor histological subtypes, achieving 100% and 98% correct classification, respectively. As proof-of-principle for clinical utility, we successfully use biomarker DMR-2 in a pilot analysis of cell-free circulating DNA to monitor tumor response during treatment in ten patients. CONCLUSIONS: These findings define the most common methylated regions in Wilms tumor known to date which are not associated with their embryonic origin or precursor stage. We show that this tumor-specific methylated DNA is released into the blood circulation where it can be detected non-invasively showing potential for clinical utility.

Type: Article
Title: Methylome analysis identifies a Wilms tumor epigenetic biomarker detectable in blood
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1186/s13059-014-0434-y
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13059-014-0434-y
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © Charlton et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://​creativecommons.​org/​licenses/​by/​4.​0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://​creativecommons.​org/​publicdomain/​zero/​1.​0/​) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Keywords: Algorithms, Biomarkers, Tumor, Cell-Free System, DNA Methylation, Epigenesis, Genetic, Genome, Human, Humans, Kidney Neoplasms, Pilot Projects, Wilms Tumor
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Cancer Institute
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Cancer Institute > Research Department of Cancer Bio
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Developmental Biology and Cancer Dept
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1442995
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