{
  "abstract": "Introduction\n\nBreast cancer represents the most prevalent malignancy among women globally, with a rising incidence of metastases to the central nervous system. The presence of brain metastases is associated with a poor prognosis, largely due to the limited availability of effective treatment modalities.Methods\n\nIn this preliminary study, we performed an epigenome-wide DNA-methylation analysis of matched primary breast cancer and brain metastasis of the same patients applying the Illumina Infinium EPIC Bead Chip interrogating more than 850,000 CpG sites at single base resolution.Results\n\nWe found that primary breast cancers and corresponding metastases are very similar on the global DNA methylation level. Detailed analysis showed aberrant methylation patterns that reflect the process of brain metastasis. We identified 107 nominally significant methylated CpG sites (DMCGs) within promoter and gene regions (Δβ ≥ 0.1, p-value < 0.05), when comparing primary breast tumors to their brain metastatic counterparts. However, due to the limited sample size, no individual CpG site retained statistically significant after correction for multiple testing.Conclusion\n\nOur study highlights specific aberrant DNA methylation patterns that are associated with brain metastasis in breast cancer. Characterizing these epigenetic alterations provides a promising avenue for identifying novel therapeutic targets and clinically relevant biomarkers.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Salzburg, Paracelsus Medical University, Müllner Hauptstr. 48, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria.",
    "Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Salzburg, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.",
    "Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.",
    "Department of Neurosurgery, München Klinik Bogenhausen, Munich, Germany.",
    "Division of Neuropathology, Neuromed Campus, Institute of Pathology and Molecular Pathology, Kepler University Hospital, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria and Clinical Research Institute for Neurosciences, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.",
    "Clinic of Internal Medicine 3, University Hospital Salzburg, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.",
    "Salzburg Cancer Research Institute - Laboratory for Immunological and Molecular Cancer Research (SCRI-LIMCR), Salzburg, Austria.",
    "Cancer Cluster Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.",
    "Division of Oncology, Department for Internal Medicine, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 15,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Beate Alinger-Scharinger"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Georg Hutarew"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Christoph Schwartz"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Alexander Romagna"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Ognian Kalev"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Serge Weis"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5,
        6,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Simon P Gampenrieder"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5,
        6,
        7,
        8
      ],
      "name": "Gabriel Rinnerthaler"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5,
        6
      ],
      "name": "Vanessa Castagnaviz"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5,
        6,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Franz Gassner"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5,
        6,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Roland Geisberger"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5,
        6,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Nadja Zaborsky"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5,
        6,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Richard Greil"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Karl Sotlar"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Theo F J Kraus"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fw7gm5zp8cc0v.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.7150/ijms.130407",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13685463",
  "id": "fw7gm5zp8cc0v",
  "issns": [
    "1449-1907"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42909893",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Epigenetics and DNA Methylation"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222884115",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13685463?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13685463",
  "pmid": "42909893",
  "published": "2026-10-02",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fw7gm5zp8cc0v.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:14Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42909893",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42909893"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1312|Epigenetics and DNA Methylation",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Epigenome-Wide DNA Methylation Profiling of Matched Primary Breast Cancers and Brain Metastases Reveals Epigenetic Markers linked to Metastatic Progression: A Preliminary Study.",
  "title_text": "Epigenome-Wide DNA Methylation Profiling of Matched Primary Breast Cancers and Brain Metastases Reveals Epigenetic Markers linked to Metastatic Progression: A Preliminary Study.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:14Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fw7gm5zp8cc0v",
  "venue": "International journal of medical sciences",
  "versions": []
}