Abstract 3291: The human cancer DNA methylation marker atlas
Authors: Koch Alexander , Meijer Gerrit A. , Herman James G. , Criekinge Wim Van , Engeland Manon van 
Published: August 2018

For decades, scientists have been searching for cancer biomarkers to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. This resource-intensive and time-consuming endeavor has resulted in thousands of biomarker publications, but translation of these markers into clinical practice hardly takes place. Estimations by Poste (2011) and Kern (2012) put the number of published markers that are used in the clinic below one percent. This failure to translate biomedical findings into clinical applications has been termed the translational research valley of death (Butler, 2008).

If we are to cross this biomedical valley of death for DNA methylation markers, we have to increase the scientific quality and reproducibility of biomarker research, reduce the number of markers lost in translation, and accelerate the development of clinically useful markers. This will require a large-scale, coordinated effort from all stakeholders: scientists, funding organizations, scientific journals, private partners, and patients.

We have devised a strategy to tackle these issues and improve the reliability, efficiency and translation of cancer DNA methylation markers, while at the same time promoting data sharing. At the heart of this strategy is the construction of a database of all published markers. This marker atlas would provide researchers with a valuable resource where they can find and evaluate existing markers or, in collaboration with private partners, have a marker experimentally validated. Using the collected data, we also plan to develop a reporting standard for DNA methylation markers. The ultimate goal of our efforts is to offer cancer patients more and better biomarkers. We have summarized our approach in an article submitted to Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology for review.

While our submitted article announces our intent to create the marker atlas, we would like to present the first version of the database to the research community at AACR, together with the insights we will have gained by then and an update on our progress with the reporting standard. In our initial analyses for example, we counted over 14,000 publications describing an estimated 2,422 cancer DNA methylation markers (compared to fourteen commercially available markers (0.6%), a clinical translation rate in line with the numbers published by Poste and Kern). Based on the data collected between the submission of this abstract and the AACR conference, we will be able to improve this estimate, giving us a more accurate view of the current status of the cancer DNA methylation biomarker field.

The AACR conference would be the perfect platform to introduce the marker atlas to the wider cancer research community and to grow community support. Not only would it provide us with expert feedback and increase the number of collaborators, community-wide support will be indispensable for the longevity of what we believe to be a valuable resource. More information on the atlas can be found online at cancermatlas.com.

Citation Format: Alexander Koch, Gerrit A. Meijer, James G. Herman, Wim Van Criekinge, Manon van Engeland. The human cancer DNA methylation marker atlas [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3291.