Methylation profiling of CNS hemangioblastomas

Hemangioblastomas of the central nervous system are highly vascular neoplasms that occur sporadically or as a manifestation of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease. Despite their benign nature, hemangioblastomas are clinically heterogeneous and might be associated with significant morbidity due to mass effects of peritumoral cysts or tumor progression. Underlying molecular factors involved in hemangioblastoma tumor biology remain elusive. We investigated genome-wide DNA methylation profiles and clinical and histopathological features in a series of 47 hemangioblastomas from 42 patients, including 28 individuals with VHL disease. Bisulphite converted DNA from the 47 samples were hybridised to the MethylationEPIC BeadChip array.