Genome-Wide Host Methylation Profiling of Anal and Cervical Carcinoma [anal]

HPV infection results in changes in host gene methylation which, in turn, are thought to contribute to the neoplastic progression of HPV-associated cancers. The objective of this study was to identify joint and disease-specific genome-wide methylation changes in anal and cervical cancer as well as changes in high-grade pre-neoplastic lesions. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) anal tissues (n=143; 99% HPV+) and fresh frozen cervical tissues (n=28; 100% HPV+) underwent microdissection, DNA extraction, HPV genotyping, bisulfite modification, DNA restoration (FFPE) and analysis by the Illumina HumanMethylation450 Array. 143 FFPE anal samples (121 invasive tumor, 13 adjacent AIN3 and 9 adjacent normal mucosae) and 28 fresh frozen cervical samples (normal (n=10), CIN3 (n=9) and Cervical cancer (n=9))