DNA methylation analysis as part of the overall diagnosis of breast cancer

Abstract

An epigenetic mechanism is a system that selectively utilizes the information contained in DNA through the activation and inactivation of functional genes. One of these mechanisms is hypermethylation through which gene transcription is regulated, ultimately resulting in the silencing of tumor suppressor genes, which in turn is a highly frequent event in tumor development and progression. Therefore, the design of a method for the analysis of hypermethylation of the BRCA tumor suppressor gene, characteristic for its presence in breast cancer, which could potentially be part of the standard diagnosis used for the detection of this disease, represents an alternative for the early identification of this condition.