An update of aberrant methylation detection on circulating cell-free DNA as a tool to improve prostate cancer diagnosis and prognosis

Nicola Pavan,Bruna Scaggiante,Gabriele Grassi

doi:10.20517/jtgg.2021.18

Abstract

Prostate cancer (PCa) remains a disease of high incidence, but orphan of a specific screening program. For this reason, non-invasive techniques capable to predict PCa in patients with high specificity and sensitivity are still an urgent need. One of the major goals is to improve the PCa diagnosis and the identification of patients who benefit from tissue biopsies. Another need is the necessity to have novel biomarkers to better stratify the risk of patients with PCa to predict the aggressiveness of the tumor and the overall survival. Liquid biopsy can be an important non-invasive tool to stratify PCa at the molecular level to improve diagnosis and prognosis, and, possibly, to develop screening programs and follow-up. With this review, we are reporting the lastest update of aberrant methylation detection on circulating tumor DNA as a tool to improve prostate cancer diagnosis and prognosis.

Highlights

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the main cause of cancer-related death in men in Western countries[1]
The results suggested a high performance of the methylation test to identify patients at risk of PCa and the possibility to use these markers and their global status of methylation to stratify patients for PCa aggressiveness
The circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) can be identified from the quote of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) release from cancer cells in bloodstream or in urine

Summary

Introduction

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the main cause of cancer-related death in men in Western countries[1]. Screening programs to identify adenocarcinoma by the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) have a specificity too low to be www.jtggjournal.com. More specific PCa biomarkers are urgently needed to anticipate cancer diagnosis, especially the identification of the more aggressive forms, and for the best management of therapeutic interventions and the surveillance of cancer progression. For patients in active surveillance (AS), a more specific test and less invasive procedure are needed to improve the adherence to the protocols and maintain a good quality of life for patients

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Conclusion