DNA methylation study in breast cancer [methylation]

Addressing the still unresolved question of the existence of CIMP in breast cancer DNA methylation alterations among histological breast cancer subtypes were examined by applying the HM450K BeadChip of Illumina Inc., covering about 480,000 single CpG sites. In addition to the occurrence of the hypermethylator phenotype in breast cancer, its relation to genetic instability and histological subtypes was investigated. Bisulfite converted DNA from 32 fresh-frozen primary breast tissue samples and 4 breast cancer cell lines were hybridized onto the HumanMethylation 450K BeadChip from Illumina Inc. Additionally, 28 of these primary samples were analyzed by array-based comparative hybdridization (aCGH).