Research advances of DNA methylation in lung cancer

Lung cancer is a serious threat to human health, and its incidence and mortality have ranked first in global malignancies.Due to the lack of specific symptoms in early stage of lung cancer, most patients are in advanced stage at the time of diagnosis.The 5-year overall survival rate is less than 15%, but the 10-year survival rate of stage Ⅰ lung cancer can reach 92%.Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment are particularly important for the prognosis of patients with lung cancer.Since DNA methylation status changes and can be detected in early stage of lung cancer, it has become an important indicator for the early diagnosis of lung cancer and a hot spot in tumor screening diagnosis research.In recent years, epigenetic research represented by DNA methylation modification has developed rapidly, and a series of research results with clinical application value have been obtained.Some specific genes are expected to become new tumor biomarkers.This paper reviews the progress of DNA methylation in epigenetics in the early diagnosis, treatment, recurrence and prognosis of lung cancer. Key words: Lung cancer; DNA methylation; Early diagnosis; Tumor suppressor genes