{
  "abstract": "Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) exhibits high recurrence, necessitating frequent invasive surveillance. Urine DNA methylation profiling represents a promising non-invasive biomarker approach for early detection and monitoring. This pilot study aimed to investigate urine DNA methylation patterns in NMIBC among Thai patients. Five patients with high-grade NMIBC and three healthy volunteers were enrolled, and midstream urine and blood samples were collected prior to transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TUR-BT). Urine cell-free DNA (cfDNA) was extracted, mechanically sheared from an atypical peak of approximately 400 bp to an optimal target length of 150-200 bp, and analyzed using cell-free methylated DNA immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (cfMeDIP-seq). Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were identified between NMIBC and controls, and principal component analysis (PCA) was performed. A total of 82 DMRs were identified (adjusted P < 0.001), including 76 hypermethylated and 6 hypomethylated regions, with IRX4, TBX5, and MIR124-3 representing the top hypermethylated genes. To account for cohort heterogeneity, a refined subset analysis excluding two outlier samples (UC2 and UC3) was performed, revealing 476 significant DMRs (449 hypermethylated). PCA demonstrated clear, robust segregation between NMIBC and controls, highlighting MIR124-3, IRX4, and LHX1-DT as the most significantly hypermethylated targets. Our findings demonstrate that urine cfDNA methylation profiling can robustly distinguish NMIBC from healthy controls, highlighting MIR124-3, IRX4, and LHX1-DT as highly promising, demographic-specific biomarkers. This non-invasive approach successfully bypasses the degradative limits of traditional bisulfite conversion and establishes a technically validated foundation for clinical surveillance and diagnostics",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Chulalongkorn University Faculty of Medicine"
  ],
  "article_type": "PUBLISHAHEADOFPRINT",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "T. Watcharawitayakul"
    },
    {
      "name": "J. Ophanurak"
    },
    {
      "name": "D. Sowanthip"
    },
    {
      "name": "P. Somparn"
    },
    {
      "name": "T. Pisitkun"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "P. Sainamthip"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4jpgg6dt5k1yd.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.09.18.26363402",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.26363402v1.full",
  "id": "4jpgg6dt5k1yd",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.26363402v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "medrxiv",
      "oncology"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Epigenetics and DNA Methylation"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213886821",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.26363402v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-18",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4jpgg6dt5k1yd.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:02Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.09.18.26363402",
      "source": "medrxiv",
      "url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.26363402v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "medrxiv:oncology",
      "subfield": "oncology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Urine DNA methylation as a potential diagnostic and surveillance tool in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer in Thailand: A pilot study",
  "title_text": "Urine DNA methylation as a potential diagnostic and surveillance tool in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer in Thailand: A pilot study",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:02Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4jpgg6dt5k1yd",
  "venue": "medRxiv",
  "versions": []
}