A targeted epigenetic clock for simultaneous assessment of biological aging and cancer-associated methylation drift.

BACKGROUND: As a key tool for assessing aging, DNA methylation clocks are mostly constructed based on European and American populations and rely on the high-cost Infinium MethylationEPIC microarray. These factors limit their widespread application in the Chinese population. METHODS: This study included two independent cohorts: the Fuyang cohort (n = 610, age range 2-89 years) for model development, and the Hefei cohort (n = 188, age range 15-86 years) for external validation. Using a multiplex P...