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DNA methylation signatures in circulating cell-free DNA as biomarkers for the early detection of cancer

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Abstract

Detecting cell-free DNA (cfDNA) or circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in plasma or serum could serve as a “liquid biopsy”, which would be useful for numerous diagnostic applications. cfDNA methylation detection is one of the most promising approaches for cancer risk assessment. Here, we reviewed the literature related to the use of serum or plasma circulating cell-free DNA for cancer diagnosis in the early stage and their power as future biomarkers.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Precision Medicine Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJZD-EW-L14), the National Basic Research Program (2012CB518302, 2013CB911001), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31540033, 91019024), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA01040407).

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  1. Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, China Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Center, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Junyun Wang, Xiao Han & Yingli Sun

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xiao Han

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Wang, J., Han, X. & Sun, Y. DNA methylation signatures in circulating cell-free DNA as biomarkers for the early detection of cancer. Sci. China Life Sci. 60, 356–362 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-016-0253-7

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