DNA methylation alterations exhibit intraindividual stability and interindividual heterogeneity in prostate cancer metastases.

ABSTRACT: Human cancers almost ubiquitously harbor epigenetic alterations. Although such alterations in epigenetic marks, including DNA methylation, are potentially heritable, they can also be dynamically altered. Given this potential for plasticity, the degree to which epigenetic changes can be subject to selection and act as drivers of neoplasia has been questioned. We carried out genome-scale analyses of DNA methylation alterations in lethal metastatic prostate cancer and created DNA methylation "cityscape" plots to visualize these complex data. We show that somatic DNA methylation alterations, despite showing marked interindividual heterogeneity among men with lethal metastatic prostate cancer, were maintained across all metastases within the same individual. The overall extent of maintenance in

SUBMITTER: Aryee MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3577373 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature