Objective To identify DNA methylation markers in blood samples of thyroid cancer patients.
Methods Blood samples from 14 thyroid cancer patients and 10 healthy volunteers were collected in Shanghai. Genomic DNA samples were detected with Illumina Infinium Human Methylation 27K BeadChip for thyroid cancer blood DNA methylation profiles. Fisher, Pearson and Wilcoxon tests were used in statistical and bioinformatic analysis.
Results In comparison of methylation between the case and control groups, 40 differentially methylated genes (29 high methylated genes and 11 low methylated genes) were identified if the statistic threshold was set to P ≤ 5& #215;10-4; however, 8 differentially methylated genes (7 high methylated genes and 1 low methylated gene) were identified if P ≤ 1& #215;10-4. The latter suggested better ability to diagnose thyroid cancer with the average accuracy of 91.67% in the thyroid cancer diagnosis model.
Conclusion Aberrant methylated genes play an important role in tumorigenesis and could act as molecular markers to diagnosis thyroid cancer in blood.
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