Dna methylation biomarkers for small cell lung cancer

A method of diagnosing small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in a subject comprising:

• 1) hybridizing a methylated regions of a test sample of a subject to a DNA microarray comprising one or a combination of DNA biomarkers;
• 2) comparing the hybridized methylated regions of the methylated regions from the genome DNA with the hybridization of the corresponding methylated regions of a normal sample or standard sample genome DNA;
• and
• 3) predicting that an increase in the methylated regions of the genome DNA hybridizing to the DNA biomarker relative to the methylated regions of the normal sample or standard sample genome DNA hybridizing to the one or a combination of DNA biomarkers indicates that the subject is likely to have SCLC.

A method of treating a subject for SCLC, the method comprising:

• measuring methylation levels of one or a combination of DNA biomarkers in a test sample of the subject;
• comparing the methylation levels of the one or the combination of DNA biomarkers with the methylation levels of a corresponding one or a combination of DNA biomarkers in a normal sample or standard sample;
• and
• administering a therapeutically effective amount of a chemotherapy to the subject when there is an increase in the methylation levels of the test sample in relation to that of the normal sample or standard sample.