title: DNA methylation in germ cell tumour aetiology: current understanding and outstanding questions.
abstract: Germ cell tumours (GCTs) are a diverse group of neoplasms that can be histologically subclassified as either seminomatous or non-seminomatous. These two subtypes have distinct levels of differentiation and clinical characteristics, the non-seminomatous tumours being associated with poorer prognosis. In this article, we review how different patterns of aberrant DNA methylation relate to these subtypes. Aberrant DNA methylation is a hallmark of all human cancers, but particular subsets of cancers show unusually high frequencies of promoter region hypermethylation. Such a 'methylator phenotype' has been described in non-seminomatous tumours. We discuss the possible cause of distinct methylation profiles in GCTs and the potential of DNA methylation to provide new targets for therapy. We also consider how recent developments in our understanding of this epigenetic modification and the development of genome-wide technologies are shedding new light on the role of DNA methylation in cancer aetiology.
authors: School of Biology, Queen's Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK.
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Cusack
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Scotting
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000639:trends; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009373:Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism