Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
School of Applied Mathematical & Physical Sciences, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Pharmacol Ther. 2015 Jan;145:103-19. doi: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2014.09.005. Epub 2014 Sep 7.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver malignancy and one with high fatality. Its 5-year survival rate remains low and thus, there is a need for improvement of current treatment strategies as well as development of novel targeted methodologies in order to optimize existing therapeutic protocols. To this end, only recently, it was discovered that its pathophysiology also involves epigenetic alterations in DNA methylation, histone modifications and/or non-coding microRNA patterns. Unlike genetic events, epigenetic alterations are reversible and thus potentially considered to be an alternative option in cancer treatment protocols. In this review, we describe the general characteristics and resulted major alterations of the epigenetic machinery as well as current state of progress of epigenetic therapy (via different single or combinatorial experimental approaches) in HCC.
肝细胞癌 (HCC) 是最常见的肝脏恶性肿瘤之一，死亡率很高。其 5 年生存率仍然较低，因此需要改进当前的治疗策略，并开发新的靶向方法，以优化现有的治疗方案。为此，直到最近才发现，其病理生理学还涉及 DNA 甲基化、组蛋白修饰和/或非编码 microRNA 模式的表观遗传改变。与遗传事件不同，表观遗传改变是可逆的，因此可能被认为是癌症治疗方案的另一种选择。在这篇综述中，我们描述了 HCC 中表观遗传机制的一般特征和主要改变，以及表观遗传治疗的当前进展状况（通过不同的单一或组合实验方法）。
