The landscape of DNA methylation in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract Better understanding of the relationship between changes in the overall methylation status of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and disease progression will help us find good strategies for the early detection and treatment of HCC patients. The purpose of the study was to study the relations between the methylation status changes in HCC patients and progression of the disease to enable early detection and treatment of HCC patients. First, the DNA methylation data of 50 HCC samples and the surrounding normal samples were extracted and the change pattern of methylation status in the DNA promoter region of HCC samples against that of normal samples was studied. Then, some DNA methylation genes that could accurately identify cancer and cancer‐adjacent tissues were identified using the k‐top scoring pair method. Also, a prognostic signature that could predict the survival of HCC patients was constructed based on the overall survival time and death information of the early HCC patients. Finally, the obtained prognostic signature was verified. In conclusion, this study described the changes in the methylation spectrum during the development of HCC and identified genes associated with HCC progression and prognosis, which may offer new opportunities for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.