CIMP
CpG island methylator phenotype, abbreviated as CIMP, refers to a molecular cancer subtype characterized by widespread hypermethylation of promoter CpG islands across a set of genes, leading to transcriptional silencing. The phenotype is described in terms of CIMP-high, CIMP-low, and CIMP-negative categories in some tumor types, and it is identified through genome-wide or targeted DNA methylation profiling. CIMP represents a distinct epigenetic pattern rather than random focal methylation or global hypomethylation observed in many cancers.
In colorectal cancer, CIMP was among the first cancer contexts where this pattern was defined. CIMP-high tumors
In gliomas, a related methylator phenotype is referred to as G-CIMP (glioma-CpG island methylator phenotype). G-CIMP
CIMP-like patterns have also been reported in other cancers such as gastric cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma,