{"entity":{"id":"cns-tumour-methylation-classifier","kind":"technology","name":"Methylation classifier for brain tumours","aka":[],"tldr":"A test that reads the methylation pattern of a brain tumour's DNA and matches it to a reference library, giving a more reliable diagnosis than the microscope alone.","summary":"Brain tumour diagnosis by microscopy is notoriously inconsistent. In 2018 the Heidelberg group published a machine-learning classifier that assigns tumours to one of more than eighty methylation classes from a genome-wide methylation array, reclassifying a meaningful share of cases and revealing new entities. The approach is now embedded in the WHO classification of central nervous system tumours and used in reference neuropathology centres.","status":"established","asOf":"2026-09-04","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_methylation","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_methylation"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["glioblastoma","brain-tumours","childhood-cancers"],"sections":["diagnostics"],"technologies":["methylation-profiling"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"principle":"DNA methylation is measured on an array, and a random-forest classifier trained on thousands of reference tumours returns the best-matching class with a calibrated score.","strengths":["Reproducible, objective diagnosis","Detects rare and new entities","Works on small or archived samples"],"limitations":["Array cost and turnaround","Unclassifiable cases remain","Requires reference-centre expertise"],"since":2018},"route":"/technologies/cns-tumour-methylation-classifier/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"brain-tumours","kind":"cancer","name":"Brain and spinal cord tumours (all types)","route":"/cancers/brain-tumours/"},{"id":"childhood-cancers","kind":"cancer","name":"Childhood cancers (all types)","route":"/cancers/childhood-cancers/"},{"id":"glioblastoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Glioma & glioblastoma","route":"/cancers/glioblastoma/"}],"section":[{"id":"diagnostics","kind":"section","name":"Diagnostics & Biomarkers","route":"/fronts/diagnostics/"}],"technology":[{"id":"methylation-profiling","kind":"technology","name":"DNA methylation profiling","route":"/technologies/methylation-profiling/"},{"id":"sarcoma-methylation-classifier","kind":"technology","name":"Methylation classifier for sarcomas","route":"/technologies/sarcoma-methylation-classifier/"}],"term":[{"id":"1p19q-codeletion","kind":"term","name":"1p/19q codeletion","route":"/terms/1p19q-codeletion/"},{"id":"cdkn2a-homozygous-deletion","kind":"term","name":"CDKN2A/B homozygous deletion","route":"/terms/cdkn2a-homozygous-deletion/"},{"id":"methylation-arrays","kind":"term","name":"DNA methylation arrays and beta values (450k, EPIC)","route":"/terms/methylation-arrays/"},{"id":"ependymoma-molecular-groups","kind":"term","name":"Ependymoma molecular groups (PF-A, PF-B, ZFTA, YAP1, MYCN)","route":"/terms/ependymoma-molecular-groups/"},{"id":"medulloblastoma-molecular-groups","kind":"term","name":"Medulloblastoma molecular groups (WNT, SHH, group 3, group 4)","route":"/terms/medulloblastoma-molecular-groups/"}]}}