Peripheral blood immune cell methylation profiles are associated with nonhematopoietic cancers.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Blood leukocytes from patients with solid tumors exhibit complex and distinct cancer-associated patterns of DNA methylation. However, the biologic mechanisms underlying these patterns remain poorly understood. Because epigenetic biomarkers offer significant clinical potential for cancer detection, we sought to address a mechanistic gap in recently published works, hypothesizing that blood-based epigenetic variation may be due to shifts in leukocyte populations.

Methods

We identified differentially methylated regions (DMR) among leukocyte subtypes using epigenome-wide DNA methylation profiling of purified peripheral blood leukocyte subtypes from healthy donors. These leukocyte-tagging DMRs were then evaluated using epigenome-wide blood methylation data from three i

SUBMITTER: Koestler DC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3415587 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature