Aleix Prat, Director of the Clínic Barcelona Comprehensive Cancer Center at Barcelona Clinic Hospital, shared a post on LinkedIn about a recent article by Calum Gabbutt et al. published in Nature:
“I am thrilled to congratulate the amazing team at Clinic Barcelona Comprehensive Cancer Center (4CB) and their collaborators on a landmark achievement in cancer research: the development of a novel epigenetic methodology that reconstructs the evolution of cancer and allows us to anticipate its clinical progression.
This work, led by Iñaki Martín‑Subero (4CB), Trevor A. Graham (Cancer Research UK), and first authors Calum Gabbutt and Martí Durán‑Ferrer, analyzed DNA methylation, particularly ‘fluctuating methylation‘—in over 2,000 clinical samples from B‑cell leukemias and lymphomas.
This novel approach allows researchers to reconstruct the tumor’s evolutionary trajectory and predict its future clinical behavior, such as the likelihood and timing of progression.
Although the methodology is not yet ready for clinical use, this is a powerful example of how epigenomics and computational modelling can reshape our understanding of cancer evolution and progression.
Huge congratulations to all involved, from our team at 4CB to the outstanding international collaborators and funders. These scientific advances bring us closer to a future of predictive and personalized oncology.”
Title: Fluctuating DNA methylation tracks cancer evolution at clinical scale
Authors: Calum Gabbutt, Martí Duran-Ferrer, Heather E. Grant, Diego Mallo, Ferran Nadeu, Jacob Househam, Neus Villamor, Madlen Müller, Simon Heath, Emanuele Raineri, Olga Krali, Jessica Nordlund, Thorsten Zenz, Ivo G. Gut, Elias Campo, Armando Lopez-Guillermo, Jude Fitzgibbon, Chris P. Barnes, Darryl Shibata, José I. Martin-Subero, Trevor A. Graham
Read the Full Article on Nature
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