Liang Runzhang, Li Xiaosong, Li Weiquan, Zhu Xiao, Li Chen
School of Laboratory Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou 310053, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhanjiang), Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang 524023, China.
Clinical Molecular Medicine Testing Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China.
Biomed Pharmacother. 2021 Dec;144:112202. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2021.112202. Epub 2021 Oct 13.
DNA methylation is a work of adding a methyl group to the 5th carbon atom of cytosine in DNA sequence under the catalysis of DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) to produce 5-methyl cytosine. Some current studies have elucidated the mechanism of lung cancer occurrence and causes of lung cancer progression and metastasis from the perspective of DNA methylation. Moreover, many studies have shown that smoking can change the methylation status of some gene loci, leading to the occurrence of lung cancer, especially central lung cancer. This review mainly introduces the role of DNA methylation in the pathogenesis, early diagnosis and screening, progression and metastasis, treatment, and prognosis of lung cancer, as well as the latest progress. We point out that methylation markers, sample tests, and methylation detection limit the clinical application of DNA methylation. If the liquid biopsy is to become the main force in lung cancer diagnosis, it must make efficient use of limited samples and improve the sensitivity and specificity of the tests. In addition, we also put forward our views on the future development direction of DNA methylation.
DNA甲基化是在DNA甲基转移酶（DNMT）的催化下，将甲基基团添加到DNA序列中胞嘧啶的第5个碳原子上，从而产生5-甲基胞嘧啶的过程。目前一些研究已从DNA甲基化的角度阐明了肺癌发生的机制以及肺癌进展和转移的原因。此外，许多研究表明，吸烟会改变某些基因位点的甲基化状态，导致肺癌的发生，尤其是中央型肺癌。本综述主要介绍DNA甲基化在肺癌的发病机制、早期诊断与筛查、进展与转移、治疗及预后等方面的作用以及最新研究进展。我们指出，甲基化标志物、样本检测以及甲基化检测限制了DNA甲基化的临床应用。如果液体活检要成为肺癌诊断的主力军，就必须有效利用有限的样本，并提高检测的灵敏度和特异性。此外，我们还对DNA甲基化未来的发展方向提出了自己的看法。
