BORNHEIM, Germany ¿ Epigenomics AG said it identified more than 200 potential specific markers for early detection of colorectal cancer. The company considers them source material for development of novel diagnostics.

The markers are methylated sequence tags (MeSTs, or DNA-based markers). They were discovered at the company¿s high-throughput facility in Seattle by comparing DNA methylation patterns of healthy vs. pathologic tissue samples.

DNA methylation is involved in global transcriptional regulation of the human genome. Methylation patterns are considered the ¿on¿ and ¿off¿ signs for genes. Starting with the newly discovered MeSTs, the company aims at the development of early diagnostic tools for detecting cancer markers in human blood serum.

Work is still in an early research stage, but Berlin-based Epigenomics expects methylation-based DNA markers to enable doctors to detect disease much earlier than with currently available diagnostics. The company also screens for MeSTs that indicate other types of cancer, aiming to integrate them into mass screening programs for all major cancer types.

The new MeSTs to date showed approximately 70 genes to be associated with cancer, genes that previously had not been implicated in cancer development, Andrzej Sledziewski, head of R&D at the company¿s Seattle facility, told BioWorld International.

Epigenomics considers these genes highly interesting candidates as pharmaceutical targets.