[DNA methylation and non-small cell lung cancer]

Genomic DNA methylation is a major form of epigenetic modification. Hypermethylation could affect the binding of transcription factors to DNA and change the structure of chromatin resulting in silence of tumor suppressor genes, which plays an important role in cancer initiation and progression. In recent years, the study of DNA methylation in lung cancer, mostly in non-small cell lung cancer, has made great progress and become a new target for early detection, risk assessment, prognosis and cancer therapy.