BACKGROUND: Characteristic DNA methylation differences have been identified 
between primary and metastatic melanomas at EBF3 and/or TBC1D16 gene loci. To 
further evaluate whether these epigenetic changes may act more generally as 
drivers of tumour onset and metastasis, we have investigated DNA methylation 
changes involving EBF3 and TBC1D16 in additional publicly available data of 
multiple different tumour types.
RESULTS: Promoter hypermethylation and gene body hypomethylation of EBF3 were 
observed in a number of metastatic tumour types, when compared to normal or 
primary tumour tissues, as well as in tumour vs normal tissues and in a 
colorectal primary/metastasis pair, although not all tumour samples or 
primary/metastasis cancer pairs exhibited altered patterns of EBF3 methylation. 
In addition, hypomethylation of TBC1D16 was observed in multiple tumours, 
including a breast cancer primary/metastasis pair, and to a lesser degree in 
melanoma, although again not all tumours or cancer primary/metastasis pairs 
exhibited altered patterns of methylation.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest characteristic DNA methylation changes in 
EBF3 and TBC1D16 are relatively common tumour-associated epigenetic events in 
multiple tumour types, which is consistent with a potential role as more general 
drivers of tumour progression.