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DNA Methylation and Colorectal Cancer

  • Molecular Biology (S Anant, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Colorectal Cancer Reports

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the major cancers in the world and the second death-causing cancer in the USA. CRC development involves genetic and epigenetic alterations. Changes in DNA methylation status are believed to be involved at different stages of CRC. Promoter silencing via DNA methylation and hypomethylation of oncogenes alters gene expression and can be used as a tool for the early detection of colonic lesions. DNA methylation use as a diagnostic and prognostic marker has been described for many cancers including CRC. CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) is one of the underlying CRC mechanisms. This review aims to define methylation signatures in CRC. The analysis of DNA methylation profile in combination with the pathological diagnosis would be useful in predicting CRC tumor evolution and their prognostic behavior.

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Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

Conflict of Interest

Hassan Ashktorab and Hassan Brim declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

The human tissue for this project was obtained under the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved from Howard University. There was no animal study in this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine and Cancer Center, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA

    Hassan Ashktorab

  2. Department of Pathology, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA

    Hassan Brim

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  1. Hassan Ashktorab
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  2. Hassan Brim
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Correspondence to Hassan Ashktorab.

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Ashktorab, H., Brim, H. DNA Methylation and Colorectal Cancer. Curr Colorectal Cancer Rep 10, 425–430 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11888-014-0245-2

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