[DNA methylation profiling or the future of neuro-oncology?]

Diagnosis of central nervous system tumors is based on the histopathologic features and molecular alterations. For certain entities, this histomolecular diagnosis now includes DNA methylation profiles. Methylation profiles reflect the cell of origin and epigenetic modifications that occur during tumorigenesis and may help classify central nervous system tumors via artificial intelligence algorithms. This powerful approach to tumor classification has revolutionized the field of neuro-oncology, allowing more reliable diagnosis and prognostic assessment, particularly for pediatric neoplasms. The analysis of methylation profiles currently requires data to be shared with the developer of the AI algorithms. As DNA methylation profiling may be useful in a growing number of cancers, local alternatives, such as those based on the nanopore technology, need to be developed.