Epigenetic markers of esophageal cancer: DNA methylation

Abstract

Adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma are the most common types of esophageal malignant tumors. Their constant tendency to the increase in morbidity and high mortality rate underlie importance of the search for new biomarkers that complement and improve the early diagnosis of this disease. Despite significant efforts undertaken in this field the only marker of esophageal cancer, the ERBB2/HER2 status, is used in routine clinical practice. This review summarizes data on epigenetic markers characterizing aberrant methylation of the genome, which may be useful for early detection of esophageal cancer, prognosis and/or prediction of response to treatment. The development of new high-throughput technologies of genome-wide screening, such as BeadChip array and immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing, used not only for genome-wide genotyping, but also for the analysis of transcriptome and methylome, provides a comprehensive picture of genetic and epigenetic changes during tumorigenesis.