Feasibility of DNA Methylation Age as a Biomarker of Symptoms and Resilience among Cancer Survivors with Multiple Chronic Conditions

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

I carefully and with great interest read the manuscript of Jongmin Park et al. entitled "Feasibility of DNA Methylation Age as a Biomarker of Symptoms and Resilience among Cancer Survivors with Multiple Chronic Conditions", in which the work was aimed at investigating the correlation between the difference between chronological age and DNA Methylation Age in people with multiple chronic conditions and cancer survivors.

In my opinion, the work is performed at a sufficiently high scientific and technical level, written in an accessible and understandable language. The topic of the work has a high relevance, and the possibility of rapid introduction of an additional biomarker showing the effectiveness of therapy deserves attention and study.

Nevertheless, there are a number of shortcomings in the work, which should be corrected, before publication in the journal Biomedicines.

My main comment would be the length of the Discussion section, which in my opinion contains some duplication of information and conclusions. It could be reduced by about one third to improve the perception of the material.

The formatting of values in tables and texts is not uniform. Somewhere the digit "0" is indicated as the first digit, and somewhere it is omitted.

In the paragraph beginning on line 289, there are no references to studies that allow you to assert these facts. And also pay attention to the design of references in the text: somewhere they go before the dot, and somewhere after, and also often there is no space sign.

I believe that after eliminating the shortcomings, the work can be published in the journal Biomedicines.

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thank you so much for your thorough and valuable suggestions. We made changes according to your recommendation. Please find the points-by-point responses in the attached file.

Regards,

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The submitted manuscript is written in good fashion. I have only few pints;

1. The abstract should be revised and remove the sub heading in it

2. Add recent citation in the manuscript

3. Improved the discussion with recent literature

4. Must add the conclusion in the study 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The submitted paper is ok in term of English 

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thank you so much for your encouragement and valuable suggestions. We made changes according to your recommendation. Please find the points-by-point responses in the attached file.

Regards,

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The article 'Feasibility of DNA Methylation Age as a Biomarker of Symptoms and Resilience among Cancer Survivors with Multiple Chronic Conditions' submitted for review concerns a study of the feasibility of DNA methylation age as a biomarker for symptoms and resilience for cancer survivors with Multiple Chronic Conditions. The article appears to be well-written and the research methodology is correctly designed. A major limitation of this study is the sample size, which the authors are aware of and emphasize this problem several times in the text of the paper. I recommend the article for publication and encourage the authors to continue their research in this area. Please correct References in accordance with the Instructions for Authors.

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thank you so much for your encouragement and valuable suggestions. We made changes according to your recommendation. Please find the points-by-point responses in the attached file.

Regards,

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf