Liquid biopsy has been widely used for cancer diagnosis, as the circulating tumor DNAs (ctDNA) which are fragments released by tumor cells, can be measured with next-generation sequencing (NGS) in blood or other body fluids. It is non-invasive and can monitor cancer conditions in real-time.
Can we predict tumorigenesis before the tumor is fully developed and causes any detectable illness? If we can detect cancer early enough, the prognosis will be much better. Most cancers at early stage can be cured or easily contained. More and more studies suggest that methylation plays important role in tumorigenesis and may be suitable for the early detection of cancers. But there are still no convincing methylation biomarkers, even for the most well studied colorectal cancer.
There are several potential solutions to solve the early detection problem. Different cancer subtypes may have different epigenomics and epigenetics biomarkers. Tumor heterogeneity can be encountered by large sample size and cancer subtyping. The time course repetitive measurements of the same patient will reduce the co-founding factors and even with smaller sample sizes, we may get robust epigenomics and epigenetics biomarkers. The interactions between methylation and other omics levels should be considered, as there are complex regulations among mutation, methylation and gene expression. Last, but not least, the epigenomics and epigenetics biomarkers identified from genome-wide omics data need to be validated with cheap and fast clinical tests of a few methylation sites.
In this research topic, we focus on the epigenomics and epigenetics biomarker identification for cancer early detection. This Research Topic welcomes:
1. Cohort epigenomics and epigenetics studies with large sample sizes
2. Time-course methylation profiles that cover all the stages of tumorigenesis
3. Single-cell methylation analysis in cancer
4. Deconvolution of methylation profiles
5. Joint analysis of tissue and blood methylation
6. The regulation of methylation on gene expression
7. The genetic and epigenetic interactions
8. Clinical validation of epigenomics and epigenetics biomarkers
Liquid biopsy has been widely used for cancer diagnosis, as the circulating tumor DNAs (ctDNA) which are fragments released by tumor cells, can be measured with next-generation sequencing (NGS) in blood or other body fluids. It is non-invasive and can monitor cancer conditions in real-time.
Can we predict tumorigenesis before the tumor is fully developed and causes any detectable illness? If we can detect cancer early enough, the prognosis will be much better. Most cancers at early stage can be cured or easily contained. More and more studies suggest that methylation plays important role in tumorigenesis and may be suitable for the early detection of cancers. But there are still no convincing methylation biomarkers, even for the most well studied colorectal cancer.
There are several potential solutions to solve the early detection problem. Different cancer subtypes may have different epigenomics and epigenetics biomarkers. Tumor heterogeneity can be encountered by large sample size and cancer subtyping. The time course repetitive measurements of the same patient will reduce the co-founding factors and even with smaller sample sizes, we may get robust epigenomics and epigenetics biomarkers. The interactions between methylation and other omics levels should be considered, as there are complex regulations among mutation, methylation and gene expression. Last, but not least, the epigenomics and epigenetics biomarkers identified from genome-wide omics data need to be validated with cheap and fast clinical tests of a few methylation sites.
In this research topic, we focus on the epigenomics and epigenetics biomarker identification for cancer early detection. This Research Topic welcomes:
1. Cohort epigenomics and epigenetics studies with large sample sizes
2. Time-course methylation profiles that cover all the stages of tumorigenesis
3. Single-cell methylation analysis in cancer
4. Deconvolution of methylation profiles
5. Joint analysis of tissue and blood methylation
6. The regulation of methylation on gene expression
7. The genetic and epigenetic interactions
8. Clinical validation of epigenomics and epigenetics biomarkers
