Melanie Maierthaler

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common type of cancer, more than 65,000 patients are diagnosed with colorectal cancer in Germany each year, the lifetime risk exceeds 5 % among both men and women.

Using the 450K Methylation Assay for genome-wide investigation, we aim to reveal DNA methylation signatures as potential prognostic and/ or predictive biomarkers for CRC. The results will most likely contribute to an improved, more individual treatment of CRC in order to avoid under- or overtreatment of patients. Furthermore the study results can help to understand the role of underlying epigenetic mechanisms in CRC with regards to treatment response and long term survival of patients.