Pre-diagnosis blood DNA methylation profiling of twin pairs discordant for breast cancer points to the importance of environmental risk factors.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Assessment of breast cancer (BC) risk generally relies on mammography, family history, reproductive history, and genotyping of major mutations. However, assessing the impact of environmental factors, such as lifestyle, health-related behavior, or external exposures, is still challenging. DNA methylation (DNAm), capturing both genetic and environmental effects, presents a promising opportunity. Previous studies have identified associations and predicted the risk of BC using DNAm in blood; however, these studies did not distinguish between genetic and environmental contributions to these DNAm sites. In this study, associations between DNAm and BC are assessed using paired twin models, which control for shared genetic and environmental effects, allowing testing for associat

SUBMITTER: Bode HF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11574988 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature