Tumor classifiers based on molecular patterns promise to define and reliably classify tumor entities. The high tissue- and cell type-specificity of DNA methylation, as well as its high stability, makes DNA methylation an ideal choice for the development of tumor classifiers. Herein, we review existing tumor classifiers using DNA methylome analysis and will provide an overview on their emerging impact on cancer classification, the detection of novel cancer subentities and patient stratification with a focus on brain tumors, sarcomas and hematopoietic malignancies. Furthermore, we provide an outlook on the enormous potential of DNA methylome analysis to complement classical histopathological and genetic diagnostics, including the emerging field of epigenomic analysis in liquid biopsies.

中文翻译：

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使用 DNA 甲基化组分析的分子肿瘤分类。

基于分子模式的肿瘤分类器有望定义和可靠地分类肿瘤实体。DNA 甲基化的高组织和细胞类型特异性及其高稳定性使 DNA 甲基化成为开发肿瘤分类器的理想选择。在此，我们使用 DNA 甲基化组分析回顾了现有的肿瘤分类器，并将概述它们对癌症分类、新癌症亚实体的检测和患者分层的新影响，重点是脑肿瘤、肉瘤和造血系统恶性肿瘤。此外，我们展望了 DNA 甲基化组分析在补充经典组织病理学和遗传诊断方面的巨大潜力，包括新兴的液体活检表观基因组分析领域。