Epigenetic profiling of hormone receptor positive breast cancer and the risk of disease recurrence

This thesis investigated whether the development of metastases in patients treated for hormone-sensitive breast cancer can be predicted on the basis of the DNA methylation profile of the tumor. The thesis consists of a main study investigating the prognostic value of DNA methylation in Dutch patients, and a number of technical studies that made the analyses in the main study possible. The conclusion of the study is that DNA methylation has a predictive value for the occurrence of metastases in women treated for hormone-sensitive breast cancer, but that this predictive value is no better than already existing clinical factors.