{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T23:03:47Z","timestamp":1790291027623,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,23]],"date-time":"2024-05-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1716422400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Fujirebio Europe"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cancers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Epigenetic biomarkers in cancer have emerged as promising tools for early detection, prognosis, and treatment response prediction. In cervical cells, hypermethylation of the host and viral HPV-genome increases with the severity of lesions, providing a useful biomarker in the triage of hr-HPV-positive women and during treatment. The present study focuses on evaluating the clinical performance of the FAM19A4\/miR124-2 methylation test in a population-based cervical screening program. Methods: Previously collected cervical samples, after bisulfite-converted DNA, were analyzed by PreCursor-M+ kit (distributed by Fujirebio Europe), for DNA methylation. The sensitivity, specificity, and negative\/positive predictive values of DNA methylation were compared to histology, colposcopy, the HPV-DNA test, and cytology results. Results: Among the 61-sample set, the specificity of methylation vs. positive histology (\u2265CIN2) and colposcopy (\u2265G2) were 87% and 90%, whereas the sensitivity was 50% and 33.3%, respectively. The combination of methylation analysis with standard methods increases diagnostic accuracy. Conclusions: Overall, we found a good specificity of DNA methylation in comparison to currently used techniques. Further larger studies could support the use of FAM19A4\/miR124-2 as reliable biomarkers in the prevention of cervical cancer as triage in the screening protocol.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cancers16111986","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,23]],"date-time":"2024-05-23T11:37:13Z","timestamp":1716464233000},"page":"1986","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Diagnostic Accuracy of DNA-Methylation in Detection of Cervical Dysplasia: Findings from a Population-Based Screening Program"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3847-870X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Narcisa","family":"Muresu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Humanities and Social Science, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5656-6845","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mariangela V.","family":"Puci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Statistics Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1600-4474","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giovanni","family":"Sotgiu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Statistics Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7477-8320","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Illari","family":"Sechi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Manuela","family":"Usai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Humanities and Social Science, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Cossu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2273-6986","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marianna","family":"Martinelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6166-1134","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Clementina Elvezia","family":"Cocuzza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6609-8886","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Piana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"229","DOI":"10.3322\/caac.21834","article-title":"Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries","volume":"74","author":"Bray","year":"2024","journal-title":"CA Cancer J. 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