DNA methylation in pituitary adenomas: scoping review protocol

ObjectiveThe general objective of this study is to map the current knowledge in DNA methylation in Pituitary Adenomas, and in particular focus on genetic and epigenetic findings and the translation into a clinical setting. IntroductionPituitary tumorigenesis is currently under major investigation. The current research has turned to epigenomic analysis, investigating whether several epigenetic components like DNA methylation and histone modification can be used as markers for tumorigenesis. Several studies report genes involved in relation to hypo/hypermethylated sites. Others describe differential methylated probes/regions (DMR or DMP) and show subclassification traits. Furthermore, most recent studies aim to cluster samples based on full methylome data (unsupervised cluster analysis), while others chose to assess the most different probes (example 2000 probes) and perform the same data-analysis. Inclusion criteriaIn this review, we will include all primary studies on pituitary adenomas analyzed by DNA methylation. No review studies will be included. All papers describing DNA methylation in pituitary adenomas in humans will be included. In addition, all languages will be included. However, both title and abstract needs to be written in English. MethodsPapers will be identified via systematic search using the bibliographic databases: Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library and Scopus. Two reviewers will screen all papers based on title and abstract. All relevant papers will be included for further assessment by the same two reviewers. Full texts from each selected paper will be read, and if relevant regarding the eligibility criteria, papers will be included in the review. Disputes between these reviewers, the paper/papers will be discussed in the entire research-group. 5. FundingNo external funding for this review, funded by in-house resources.