DNA Methylation Markers in Liquid Biopsies (Volume II)

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is the second edition of “DNA Methylation Markers in Liquid Biopsies”.

Liquid biopsy is a highly promising and powerful clinical tool for the real-time follow-up of cancer patients that overcomes many of the limitations of tissue biopsies. Liquid biopsy approaches include the enumeration and molecular characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), as well as the analysis of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulating miRNAs, and tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) that are shed from primary tumors and metastatic sites into peripheral blood. The major advantage of liquid biopsy analyses is that they are minimally invasive and can provide real-time information on tumor characteristics at regular time intervals.

Epigenetic alterations have a high potential to provide a valuable source of innovative biomarkers for cancer due to their stability, frequency, and non-invasive accessibility in bodily fluids. Numerous DNA methylation markers are now being tested in liquid biopsies, especially in ctDNA and CTCs, as potential biomarkers of various types of cancer. DNA methylation in combination with liquid biopsy is very powerful when it comes to providing circulating epigenetic biomarkers of clinical importance. Blood-based epigenetic biomarkers have high potential for the early detection of cancer since DNA methylation in plasma can be detected early during cancer pathogenesis.

This Special Issue of Cancers encompasses new research articles and timely reviews on the latest findings on DNA methylation markers in liquid biopsies for early detection, prognosis, minimal residual disease, risk of relapse, treatment selection, and resistance.

Prof. Dr. Evi S. Lianidou
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• liquid biopsy
• circulating tumor cells
• CTCs
• circulating tumor DNA
• ctDNA
• DNA methylation
• epigenetic alterations
• prognostic biomarkers
• predictive biomarkers
• early detection
• minimal residual disease