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01-12-2012 | Research Article

DNA methylation of circulating DNA: a marker for monitoring efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients

Authors: Gayatri Sharma, Sameer Mirza, Rajinder Parshad, Siddartha Datta Gupta, Ranju Ralhan

Published in: Tumor Biology | Issue 6/2012

Abstract

Identification of biomarkers for monitoring efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients is of utmost importance in individual tailoring of treatment and save from toxicity due to non-effective drugs. We hypothesized that methylation of circulating tumor-specific DNA may reflect changes in tumor burden in response to chemotherapy and help stratify responders from non-responders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of methylation changes in circulating DNA to monitor treatment response of breast cancer patients. Six consecutive sera samples collected from 30 breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy were analyzed for methylation status of a panel of five genes namely, BRCA1, MGMT, GSTP1, Stratifin, and MDR1. Among these five genes, BRCA1 methylation frequency was different among responders and non-responders groups. The correlation coefficients between total gene methylation with initial chemotherapy and tumor volume reduction were R ² = 0.8 and R ² = 0.05 in the responders and non-responders groups, respectively. Our findings warrant further development of this approach for monitoring response in patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

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Title: DNA methylation of circulating DNA: a marker for monitoring efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients
Authors: Gayatri Sharma
Sameer Mirza
Rajinder Parshad
Siddartha Datta Gupta
Ranju Ralhan
Publication date: 01-12-2012
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Tumor Biology / Issue 6/2012
Print ISSN: 1010-4283
Electronic ISSN: 1423-0380
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-012-0443-y

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