Xu Yongle, Wang Zhenzhen, Pei Bing, Wang Jie, Xue Ying, Zhao Guodong
Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Gusu School, The Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, China.
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Xuzhou Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China.
Front Genet. 2024 May 7;15:1354195. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1354195. eCollection 2024.
Esophageal cancer (EC) is a prevalent malignancy characterized by a low 5-year survival rate, primarily attributed to delayed diagnosis and limited therapeutic options. Currently, early detection of EC heavily relies on endoscopy and pathological examination, which pose challenges due to their invasiveness and high costs, leading to low patient compliance. The detection of DNA methylation offers a non-endoscopic, cost-effective, and secure approach that holds promising prospects for early EC detection.
To identify improved methylation markers for early EC detection, we conducted a comprehensive review of relevant literature, summarized the performance of DNA methylation markers based on different input samples and analytical methods in EC early detection and screening.
This review reveals that blood cell free DNA methylation-based method is an effective non-invasive method for early detection of EC, although there is still a need to improve its sensitivity and specificity. Another highly sensitive and specific non-endoscopic approach for early detection of EC is the esophageal exfoliated cells based-DNA methylation analysis. However, while there are substantial studies in esophageal adenocarcinoma, further more validation is required in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
In conclusion, DNA methylation detection holds significant potential as an early detection and screening technology for EC.
食管癌（EC）是一种常见的恶性肿瘤，其5年生存率较低，主要归因于诊断延迟和治疗选择有限。目前，食管癌的早期检测严重依赖于内镜检查和病理检查，由于其侵入性和高成本，这些方法面临挑战，导致患者依从性较低。DNA甲基化检测提供了一种非内镜、经济高效且安全的方法，在食管癌早期检测方面具有广阔前景。
为了确定用于早期食管癌检测的改进甲基化标志物，我们对相关文献进行了全面综述，总结了基于不同输入样本和分析方法的DNA甲基化标志物在食管癌早期检测和筛查中的性能。
本综述表明，基于游离血细胞DNA甲基化的方法是早期检测食管癌的一种有效非侵入性方法，尽管仍需提高其敏感性和特异性。另一种用于早期食管癌检测的高灵敏度和特异性非内镜方法是基于食管脱落细胞的DNA甲基化分析。然而，虽然在食管腺癌方面有大量研究，但在食管鳞状细胞癌中还需要进一步验证。
总之，DNA甲基化检测作为食管癌的早期检测和筛查技术具有巨大潜力。
