Analysis of Prognostic Marker Panel for High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer through Age-Dependent DNA Methylation

Abstract

Achieving early detection at the onset of cancer is a major goal of cancer research. The early presence of aberrant DNA methylation makes the use of DNA methylation biomarkers an attractive candidate for early detection. Altered DNA methylation is ubiquitous in human cancers and specific methylation changes are often correlated with clinical features. DNA methylation biomarkers provide a range of opportunities for early detection, diagnosis, prognosis, therapeutic stratification and post-therapeutic monitoring. Furthermore, aging is one of the primary risk factors associated with cancer development. We conducted computational biology analyses of published High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) epigenetic profiles using gene lists bearing human embryonic stem cell (hESC) characteristics. Through aging correlated features, epigenetic age-dependent marker panel on HGSOC was conducted. It is to be noted, the genes in the refined marker panel were found all included in the age-dependent features. The further experiment results showed not only the refined marker panel is able to represent the age-dependent features but performed better performance than the reported marker panel without associated with age parameter. Furthermore, the refined prognostic marker panel, including HOXA9, HSPA1A, and CALCA-associated with ovarian cancer and tumor growth, is strongly connected with literature support the potential for considering into clinical assay for patients’ stratification and future personalized medicine interventions.