Targeted bisulfite sequencing with tissues of colorectal cancer patients in Republic of Korea

DNA methylation is one of the most studied epigenetic changes occurring primarily at the cytosine of CpG site by the DNA methyltransferases in mammals. Dysregulation of DNA methylation can lead to various diseases including cancers. In the case of colorectal cancer(CRC), aberrant alteration in DNA methylation have been widely reported to be associated with cancer progression. Meanwhile, predicting metastasis and progression of colorectal cancer to the advanced stages help determination of the therapeutic strategies. The prediction will increase the survival and cure rate of colorectal cancer patients. However, the biomarkers are still inadequate and have limited predictive score for the prediction of metastasis and progression of colorectal cancer. Here, we conducted targeted bisulfite sequencing to find some candidate biomarkers which can be used in prediction of colorectal cancer progression. Analysis of the Illumina Infinuim 450K microarray data from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) found a set of provisional DNA methylation biomarkers.