Abstract
There are no good blood and serum biomarkers for detection, follow up, or prognosis of brain tumors. However, they are needed for more detailed tumor classification, better prognosis estimation and selection of an efficient therapeutic strategy. The aim of this study was to use the epigenetic changes in DNA of peripheral blood samples as a molecular marker to diagnose brain tumors as well as other diseases. We have applied a very precise thin-layer chromatography (TLC) analysis of the global amount of 5-methylcytosine (m5C) in DNA from brain tumors, colon and breast cancer tissues and peripheral blood samples of the same patients. The m5C level in tissue DNA from different brain tumor types, expressed as R coefficient, changes within the range of 0.2–1.6 and overlaps with R of that of blood samples. It negatively correlates with the WHO malignancy grade. The global DNA hypomethylation quantitative measure in blood, demonstrates a big potential for development of non-invasive applications for detection of a low and a high grade brain tumors. We have also used this approach to analyze patients with breast and colon cancers. In all these cases the m5C amount in DNA cancer tissue match with data of blood. This study is the first to demonstrate the potential role of global m5C content in blood DNA for early detection of brain tumors and others diseases. So, genomic DNA hypomethylation is a promising marker for prognosis of various neoplasms as well as other pathologies.
Highlights
Cancer results from the accumulation of genetic and epigenetic mutations in a susceptible cells [1]
We analyzed the genomic level of m5C in DNA extracted from both brain tumor tissue and peripheral blood sample from all patients (Figure 2)
DNA can be digested into nucleotides and the total m5C amount can be quantified by high performance liquid chromatography, or liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry
Summary
Cancer results from the accumulation of genetic and epigenetic mutations in a susceptible cells [1]. A comprehensive appreciation of the integrated genomics and epigenomics of gliomas is urgently needed for better understanding of the multiple cellular pathways involved in brain tumor development, and establishing markers of resistance to traditional therapies as well as contributing to the development of new treatment modalities The neuropathology system classifies brain tumors according to their morphological resemblance to the corresponding glial cells, cytoarchitecture and immunohistological properties [2]. This approach is the method of choice for typing and grading of brain tumors. Neuroimaging (e.g. MRI) is a superior instrumental approach for disease staging and follow up [3]
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