Abstract
Lung cancer is still the major cause of cancer-related mortality around the globe. The interplay of permanent genetic and dynamic epigenetic changes leads to the onset and progression of lung cancer. The diagnosis is often made at an advanced stage when the prognosis is dismal and therapy choices are restricted. Epigenetic association with lung cancer has long been studied but with fewer success rates. Research is still progressing, and with an advanced understanding of human genomics, more and more information is being unveiled. In the last decade, epigenetics and particularly research on DNA methylation and histone modification have provided vital information to understand lung cancer pathogenesis better. As a result, stage-specific epigenetic modifications can be employed as strong and reliable tools for early lung cancer detection and patient prognosis monitoring. The information on epigenetic biomarkers for lung cancer is summarised in this review, which focuses on DNA methylation and histone modification, as well as its implications for early detection, diagnosis, prognostication, and treatments.
Highlights
Tumour characteristics, including pathological subtype, nodal invasion, and metastasis, have traditionally been used to predict illness outcomes. Aside from these well-established prognostic factors, aberrant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation and microRNA expression have been widely researched and published in the literature due to the distinct properties that make them well-suited as prospective prognosis markers
Epigenetics is the promising frontier of science entailed by copious reinforcing signals, embracing DNA methylation, micro ribonucleic acid (RNA), histone modifications, and chromatin remodelling
Epigenetics is essential in the aetiology of lung cancer and can be helpful as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers
Summary
Epigenetic biomarkers, DNA methylation, histone modifications, and micro ribonucleic acid (RNA) expression, have unique features that make them promising prognostic indicators (Figure 1) They are valuable for the early diagnosis of cancer and provide important prognostic information, predicting how aggressive the disease process would be and differentiating the tumour's outcome [10]. Hypermethylation can silence essential tumour suppressors or regulatory areas in the genome, resulting in dysregulation of cell proliferation or altered responsiveness to cancer therapy [16] These epigenetic processes can work with known driver mutations to promote cancer development or evolution [17]. Tumour characteristics, including pathological subtype, nodal invasion, and metastasis, have traditionally been used to predict illness outcomes Aside from these well-established prognostic factors, aberrant DNA methylation and microRNA expression have been widely researched and published in the literature due to the distinct properties that make them well-suited as prospective prognosis markers. Changes in miRs are rarely used clinically at the moment, and creating reliable miR panels for clinical application in lung cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment will require several years [16]
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