SPORE in Ovarian Cancer Program, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, USA.
FEBS Lett. 2011 Jul 7;585(13):2112-20. doi: 10.1016/j.febslet.2011.03.016. Epub 2011 Mar 12.
Cancer is a disease initiated and driven by the accumulation and interplay of genetic and epigenetic mutations of genes involved in the regulation of cell growth and signaling. Dysregulation of these genes and pathways in a cell leads to a growth advantage and clonal expansion. The epigenetic alterations involved in the initiation and progression of cancer are DNA methylation and histone modifications which interact to remodel chromatin, as well as RNA interference. These alterations can be used as candidate targets in molecular tests for risk, early detection, prognosis, prediction of response to therapy, and monitoring, as well as new therapeutic targets in cancer. In this review, we discuss the rationale, studies to date, and issues in the translational application of epigenetics using epithelial ovarian cancer as a specific example of all types of cancer.
癌症是一种由涉及细胞生长和信号转导调控的基因的遗传和表观遗传突变的积累和相互作用引发和驱动的疾病。这些基因和通路在细胞中的失调导致生长优势和克隆扩增。在癌症的发生和发展中涉及的表观遗传改变是 DNA 甲基化和组蛋白修饰，它们相互作用重塑染色质，以及 RNA 干扰。这些改变可以作为分子测试中风险、早期检测、预后、治疗反应预测和监测的候选靶点，以及癌症的新治疗靶点。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了使用上皮性卵巢癌作为所有类型癌症的具体示例的基于表观遗传学的分子测试的转化应用的原理、迄今为止的研究以及问题。
