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REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gynecological Oncology
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1455255

Unveiling DNA Methylation: Early Diagnosis, Risk Assessment, and Therapy for Endometrial Cancer

Provisionally accepted
Minzhen Li Minzhen Li 1Zhili Xia Zhili Xia 2Ruiyu Wang Ruiyu Wang 1Mingrong Xi Mingrong Xi 1Minmin Hou Minmin Hou 1*
  • 1 West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
  • 2 Lanzhou University Medical College, Lanzhou, Gansu, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Endometrial cancer (EC), one of the most common gynecologic malignancies worldwide, poses a significant burden particularly among young women, with poor treatment outcomes and prognosis for advanced and recurrent patients. Epigenetic changes, encompassing DNA methylation, are involved in the occurrence and progression of tumors and hold promise as effective tools for screening, early diagnosis, treatment strategy, efficacy evaluation, and prognosis analysis. This review provides a comprehensive summary of DNA methylation-based early diagnostic biomarkers in EC, with a focus on recent valuable research findings published in the past two years. The discussion is organized according to sample sources, including cervical scraping, vaginal fluid, urine, blood, and tissue. Additionally, we outline the role of DNA methylation in EC risk assessment, such as carcinogenesis risk, feasibility of fertility preservation approaches, and overall prognosis, aiming to provide personalized treatment decisions for patients. Finally, we review researches on DNA methylation in resistance to first-line treatment of EC and the development of new drugs, and envision the future applications of DNA methylation in EC.

    Keywords: DNA Methylation, endometrial cancer, early diagnostic biomarker, Risk Assessment, Fertility Preservation, prognosis, therapy resistance

    Received: 26 Jun 2024; Accepted: 30 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Xia, Wang, Xi and Hou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Minmin Hou, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.