Methylation status at HYAL2 predicts overall and progression-free survival of colon cancer patients under 5-FU chemotherapy

DNA methylation variations in gene promoter regions are well documented tumor-specific alterations in human malignancies including colon cancer, which may influence tumor behavior and clinical outcome. As a subset of colon cancer patients does not benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy, predictive biomarkers are desirable. Here, we describe that DNA methylation levels at CpG loci of hyaluronoglucosaminidase 2 (HYLA2) could be used to identify stage II and III colon cancer patients who are most likely to benefit from 5-flourouracil (5-FU) chemotherapy with respect to overall survival and progression-free survival.