Our study provided a reliable and effective platform for BRCA1/2 genetic testing, and suggested that there was a relatively high prevalence and special spectrum of BRCA1/2 mutations in unselected Chinese breast cancer patients.

Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has been considered as a potential biomarker for non-invasive cancer detection. To evaluate the methylation levels of six candidate genes (EGFR, GREM1, PDGFRB, PPM1E, SOX17, and WRN) in plasma cfDNA as biomarkers for breast cancer early detection, quantitative analysis of the promoter methylation of these genes from 86 breast cancer patients and 67 healthy controls was performed by using microfluidic-PCR-based target enrichment and next-generation bisulfite sequencing technology. The predictive performance of different logistic models based on methylation status of candidate genes was investigated by means of the area under the ROC curve (AUC) and odds ratio (OR) analysis. Results revealed that EGFR, PPM1E, and 8 gene-specific CpG sites showed significantly hypermethylation in cancer patients' plasma and significantly associated with breast cancer (OR ranging from 2.51 to 9.88). The AUC values for these biomarkers were ranging from 0.66 to 0.75. Combinations of multiple hypermethylated genes or CpG sites substantially improved the predictive performance for breast cancer detection. Our study demonstrated the feasibility of quantitative measurement of candidate gene methylation in cfDNA by using microfluidic-PCR-based target enrichment and bisulfite next-generation sequencing, which is worthy of further validation and potentially benefits a broad range of applications in clinical oncology practice. Quantitative analysis of methylation pattern of plasma cfDNA by next-generation sequencing might be a valuable non-invasive tool for early detection of breast cancer.

Using UCTs, they can maximally keep the original proportion and integrity of ucfDNA and stabilize urinary cells and minimize the background noise caused by urinary cellular DNA releasing, it will be help to open the door of next-generation noninvasive liquid biopsy applications utilizing urine.

Telomeres at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes play a critical role in tumorgenesis. Using microfluidic PCR and next-generation bisulfite sequencing technology, we investigated the promoter methylation of 29 telomere related genes in paired tumor and normal tissues from 184 breast cancer patients. The expression of significantly differentially methylated genes was quantified using qPCR method.We observed that the average methylation level of the 29 telomere related genes was significant higher in tumor than that in normal tissues (P = 4.30E-21). A total of 4 genes (RAD50, RTEL, TERC and TRF1) showed significant hyper-methylation in breast tumor tissues. RAD51D showed significant methylation difference among the four breast cancer subtypes. The methylation of TERC showed significant association with ER status of breast cancer. The expression profiles of the 4 hyper-methylated genes showed significantly reduced expression in tumor tissues. The integration analysis of methylation and expression of these 4 genes showed a good performance in breast cancer prediction (AUC = 0.947).Our results revealed the methylation pattern of telomere related genes in breast cancer and suggested a novel 4-gene panel might be a valuable biomarker for breast cancer diagnosis.

Telomeres at the ends of chromosomes are critical in maintaining the integrity and stability of the genome. Aberrant telomere or telomerase dysfunction participates in tumorgenesis. A majority of human cancers exhibit critically aberrant telomere length, suggesting that tumors can arise from genetically instable cells with dysfunctional telomeres. Many genes are involved in the complex regulatory mechanisms of telomere length and telomerase activity. In addition, the methylation and expression pattern for most of telomere related genes in breast cancer are still unknown. Using microfluidic-PCR based target enrichment and next-generation bisulfite sequencing technology, we explored the promoter methylation profile of 29 telomere-related genes in 184 breast cancer patients with paired tumor and matched normal tissues. The average methylation level was significantly higher in tumor (8.13%) than that in matched normal tissues (7.08%) (P = 4.30E-21). Four genes showed significant hyper-methylation in the breast tumor tissues. All of these 4 genes are annotated with potential TFBSs in the promoter regions. In subtype analysis, RAD51D showed significant methylation difference among four subtypes. In analysis of the association between methylation and clinicopathologic characteristics, TERC showed significant difference between ER+/ER- tumors. The expression profile of the 4 significant hyper-methylated genes was explored in the same cohort using qPCR method. All of them showed significantly lower expression in breast tumor tissues compared with the matched normal tissues. Two genes showed significant and negative cis correlation between methylation and gene expression. These results were also validated in the TCGA database. The 4 genes panel showed a good performance in predicting breast cancer with ROC analysis. In summary, our results revealed the methylation pattern of telomere related genes in breast cancer and illustrated the epigenetic regulatory mechanism on expression of aberrant methylated genes. Our study provides a novel panel of telomere related genes which may be a valuable diagnostic biomarker for breast cancer prediction. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Jianfu Heng, Xinwu Guo, Lili Tang, Fan Zhang, Limin Peng, Ming Chen, Xipeng Luo, Xunxun Xu, Shouman Wang, Jun Wang. Integrated analysis of methylation and expression profile of telomere-related genes in breast cancer patients [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2391. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2391