Treatment response monitoring in patients with advanced malignancies using cell-free SHOX2 and SEPT9 DNA methylation in blood: An observational prospective study

Patients with incurable cancer usually receive palliative treatment with significant toxicity and limited efficacy. Methylation analysis of circulating cell-free DNA in blood from cancer patients represents a promising approach for minimally invasive, real-time monitoring of treatment response. SHOX2 and SEPT9 methylation was analyzed in N=8,865 malignant and N=746 normal adjacent tissues across 33 different malignancies from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Furthermore, we performed quantitative SHOX2 and SEPT9 circulating cell-free DNA methylation analysis in plasma obtained before and consecutively during treatment from prospectively enrolled N=115 patients with various advanced cancers.
Source: Journal of Molecular Diagnostics - Category: Pathology Authors: Source Type: research