Fig. 6: The biological significance of the DNA methylation markers in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell-free DNA.

a We divided the 155 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in the ECGEA cohort into three groups according to the average methylation level of 50 optimal DNA methylation markers in the ESCC-cfMeth score. b. The proportions of molecular subtypes of ESCC in the methylation-dominate (n = 69), methylation-moderate (n = 54), and methylation-poor groups (n = 32). c The cell components in the tumor microenvironment were compared between the methylation-dominate group (n = 69) and the methylation-moderate/poor groups (n = 86) by a two-sided t test (p = 6.6 × 10-3, 0.04, 0.01, 0.04, and 0.04 for epithelial cells, CD4 + T cells, CD8 + T cells, B cells, and dendritic cells, respectively). Data are presented as median values with maximums and minimums. d The pathways were enriched in the methylation-dominate group and the methylation-poor group. CNV copy number variant, COCA cluster of cluster assignments, CIMP CpG island methylator phenotype, Meth-cluster methylation cluster, DMR differentially methylated region, hypo hypomethylation, hyper hypermethylation, CCA cell cycle pathway activation, IM immune modulation, IS immune suppression, NRFA NRF2 oncogenic activation, DC dendritic cell. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.