AUTHOR=Wang Shuyu , Xu Dali , Gao Bo , Yan Shuhan , Sun Yiwei , Tang Xinxing , Jiao Yanjia , Huang Shan , Zhang Shumei TITLE=Heterogeneity Analysis of Bladder Cancer Based on DNA Methylation Molecular Profiling JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology VOLUME=12 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2022.915542 DOI=10.3389/fonc.2022.915542 ISSN=2234-943X ABSTRACT=

Bladder cancer is a highly complex and heterogeneous malignancy. Tumor heterogeneity is a barrier to effective diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer. Human carcinogenesis is closely related to abnormal gene expression, and DNA methylation is an important regulatory factor of gene expression. Therefore, it is of great significance for bladder cancer research to characterize tumor heterogeneity by integrating genetic and epigenetic characteristics. This study explored specific molecular subtypes based on DNA methylation status and identified subtype-specific characteristics using patient samples from the TCGA database with DNA methylation and gene expression were measured simultaneously. The results were validated using an independent cohort from GEO database. Four DNA methylation molecular subtypes of bladder cancer were obtained with different prognostic states. In addition, subtype-specific DNA methylation markers were identified using an information entropy-based algorithm to represent the unique molecular characteristics of the subtype and verified in the test set. The results of this study can provide an important reference for clinicians to make treatment decisions.