Abstract
Despite numerous technical hurdles, the realization of true personalized medicine is becoming a progressive reality for the future of patient care. With the development of new techniques and tools to measure the genetic signature of tumors, biomarkers are increasingly being used to detect occult tumors, determine the choice of treatment and predict outcomes. Methylation of CpG islands at the promoter region of genes is a particularly exciting biomarker as it is cancer-specific. Older methods to detect methylation were cumbersome, operator-dependent and required large amounts of DNA. However, a newer technique called methylation on beads has resulted in a more uniform, streamlined and efficient assay. Furthermore, methylation on beads permits the extraction and processing of miniscule amounts of methylated tumor DNA in the peripheral blood. Such a technique may aid in the clinical detection and treatment of cancers in the future.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 845-852 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2014 |
Keywords
- CpG island methylation
- biomarker
- cancer detection
- colon cancer
- methylation on bead
- pancreatic cancer
- personalized medicine
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pathology and Forensic Medicine
- Molecular Medicine
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics