Methylation-based alcohol consumption scores as prognostic biomarkers in colorectal cancer: Insights from a population-based cohort.

ABSTRACT: Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality, with alcohol consumption implicated in its etiology. However, alcohol's prognostic impact on CRC survival is unclear, and self-reported intake is limited by bias. This population-based cohort study evaluated blood DNA methylation-based alcohol scores as objective prognostic tools in 2,129 CRC patients from Germany's DACHS study (2003-2021; median follow-up: 10 years). Participants were recruited from 22 hospitals in Southwest Germany, including non-metastatic (n = 1757) and metastatic (n = 372) patients with complete methylation and alcohol data. All three assessed methylation scores (3-CpG, 450-CpG, 144-CpG) correlated with self-reported lifetime/recent alcohol intake (Spearman's r: 0.29-0.36; p < 0.0001), partic

SUBMITTER: Yuan T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12541559 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature