Exploring DNA methylation as an initiating event in childhood cancers
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring DNA methylation as an initiating event in childhood cancers
IRAS ID
232616
Contact name
Jill A McKay
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
7590, Sponsor Reference
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Cancer is caused by a series of abnormal genetic and epigenetic events. Epigenetics refers to a series of modifiable marks associated with DNA, such as DNA methylation, which control the regulation (i.e. switching ‘on’ or ‘off’) of genes. Whilst for some childhood cancers, such a leukaemia, the abnormal genetic events predisposing cancer development have been confirmed at birth, abnormal DNA methylation patterns, a potentially important contributor to childhood cancer aetiology, has not been investigated.
To investigate if abnormal DNA methylation is an early event in childhood cancer development we will compare methylation patterns of childhood cancer patients and healthy controls in previously collected blood spots taken 5-8 days after birth (i.e. before diagnosis in the cancer patients). The Great North Biobank(REC: 16/NE/0002)houses blood spots collected from neonates 5-8 days after birth between the years 1984-1994 in the local region. Using the Northern Region Young Persons' Malignant Disease Registry (NRYPMDR), we will identify cases and access the neonatal blood spot card corresponding to individual cases, and for age and sex matched controls. Cutting-edge technology will be used to investigate >850000 methylation sites across the genome to identify if abnormal DNA methylation can be detected in cases compared to healthy controls. We will also compare our findings with previously reported abnormal methylation patterns in cancer, to see if abnormal methylation patterns at birth track to disease, suggesting involvement in the disease pathway.
This study will aid understanding of cancer development, which is vital in facilitating new treatments and initiating preventative strategies. Furthermore, such studies will allow us to investigate the environmental causes of childhood cancer by linking this study with larger studies investigating the influence of environmental exposures on DNA methylation patterns at birth. Finally, the identification of early childhood cancer markers uncovered here could be used for early disease screening.REC name
North East - Tyne & Wear South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/NE/0334
Date of REC Opinion
6 Nov 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion