Colorectal adenoma and cancer detection based on altered methylation pattern of <i>SFRP1, SFRP2, SDC2</i>, and <i>PRIMA1</i> in plasma samples Kinga BartákBarbara KalmárAlexandra PéterfiaBálint V. PataiÁrpád GalambOrsolya ValczGábor SpisákSándor WichmannBarnabás NagyZsófia Brigitta TóthKinga TulassayZsolt IgazPéter MolnárBéla 2017 <p>Aberrant methylation is one of the most frequent epigenetic alterations that can contribute to tumor formation. Cell-free DNA can originate from tumor tissue; therefore, the evaluation of methylation markers in cell-free DNA can be a promising method for cancer screening. Our aim was to develop a panel of biomarkers with altered methylation along the colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence in both colonic tissue and plasma. Methylation of selected CpG sites in healthy colonic (n = 15), adenoma (n = 15), and colorectal cancer (n = 15) tissues was analyzed by pyrosequencing. MethyLight PCR was applied to study the DNA methylation of <i>SFRP1, SFRP2, SDC2,</i> and <i>PRIMA1</i> gene promoters in 121 plasma and 32 biopsy samples. The effect of altered promoter methylation on protein expression was examined by immunohistochemistry. Significantly higher (<i>P</i> < 0.05) DNA methylation levels were detected in the promoter regions of all 4 markers, both in CRC and adenoma tissues compared with healthy controls. Methylation of <i>SFRP1, SFRP2, SDC2,</i> and <i>PRIMA1</i> promoter sequences was observed in 85.1%, 72.3%, 89.4%, and 80.9% of plasma samples from patients with CRC and 89.2%, 83.8%, 81.1% and 70.3% from adenoma patients, respectively. When applied as a panel, CRC patients could be distinguished from controls with 91.5% sensitivity and 97.3% specificity [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.978], while adenoma samples could be differentiated with 89.2% sensitivity and 86.5% specificity (AUC = 0.937). Immunohistochemical analysis indicated decreasing protein levels of all 4 markers along the colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence. Our findings suggest that this methylation biomarker panel allows non-invasive detection of colorectal adenoma and cancer from plasma samples.</p>