Analyses of epigenetic markers in liquid biopsies: information from beyond the genome

Analysis of epigenetic markers from liquid biopsies provides insights into physiological and pathological processes in the body of a person far beyond the pure sequence information. In particular, the DNA methylation pattern and the expression patterns of mRNA and ncRNA are accessible from liquid biopsies. Therefore, a whole group of new potential biomarkers will come into reach for non-invasive and economic diagnostics. Furthermore, and in contrast to the pure DNA sequence analysis from liquid biopsies, the high tissue specificity of several epigenetic markers allows the origin of the nucleic acids analyzed, e. g. with regard to the affected organ, to be determined. In view of the falling costs of sequencing and the technological progress that continues to push the detection limits to even more sensitive application, epigenetic analyses from liquid biopsies could further enforce the trend toward precision medicine.