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Methylation extends the reach of liquid biopsy in cancer detection

Measuring the methylation status of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in plasma holds great potential for the early, noninvasive detection of cancer. Two recent papers published in Nature Medicine showcase the successful application of cfDNA methylation-based cancer detection to two highly challenging scenarios.

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Fig. 1: Applications of cfMeDIP-seq for the detection of intracranial tumours and renal cell carcinomas.

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Acknowledgements

The authors’ work is supported by the NIH grants U01CA230705, R01CA246329, and U01CA237711.

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Correspondence to Xianghong Jasmine Zhou.

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W.L. and X.J.Z. are co-founders and shareholders of EarlyDiagnostics Inc.

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Li, W., Zhou, X.J. Methylation extends the reach of liquid biopsy in cancer detection. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 17, 655–656 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-020-0420-0

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