Detection of Cell Types Contributing to Cancer From Circulating, Cell-Free Methylated DNA.

ABSTRACT: Detection of cellular changes in tissue biopsies has been the basis for cancer diagnostics. However, tissue biopsies are invasive and limited by inaccuracies due to sampling locations, restricted sampling frequency, and poor representation of tissue heterogeneity. Liquid biopsies are emerging as a complementary approach to traditional tissue biopsies to detect dynamic changes in specific cell populations. Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fragments released into the circulation from dying cells can be traced back to the tissues and cell types they originated from using DNA methylation, an epigenetic regulatory mechanism that is highly cell-type specific. Decoding changes in the cellular origins of cfDNA over time can reveal altered host tissue homeostasis due to local cancer invasion and metastatic sp

SUBMITTER: Barefoot ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8353442 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature