Preliminary insights into methylation patterns in Agent Orange exposed thyroid cancers: a pilot study.

ABSTRACT: During the Vietnam War, US military personnel were widely exposed to a tactical defoliant called Agent Orange, contaminated with a toxic endocrine-disrupting chemical, 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). Vietnam-era US Veterans exposed to Agent Orange display increased risk of thyroid cancer, yet the molecular mechanisms behind this risk remain largely unexplored. As aberrant DNA methylation is a hallmark of cancer development, we conducted a retrospective case-case study of Vietnam-era US Veterans to investigate differential DNA methylation profiles of Agent Orange exposed thyroid cancers compared to unexposed thyroid cancers. This exploratory study included 44 Veterans with differentiated thyroid cancer, treated at two Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers (1990-2020): 23 Agen

SUBMITTER: Amreen B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12910709 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature