Li Yongyun, Jia Renbing, Ge Shengfang
Department of Ophthalmology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Int J Biol Sci. 2017 Mar 11;13(4):426-433. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.18331. eCollection 2017.
Uveal melanoma (UM) is a severe human malignancy with a high mortality rate that demands continued research into new and alternative forms of prevention and treatment. The emerging field of epigenetics is beginning to unfold an era of contemporary approaches to reducing the risk and improving the clinical treatment of UM. Epigenetic changes have a high prevalence rate in cancer, are reversible in nature, and can lead to cancer characteristics even in mutation-free cells. The information contained in this review highlights and expands on the main mechanisms of epigenetic dysregulation in UM tumorigenesis, progression and metastasis, including microRNA expression, hypermethylation of genes and histone modification. Epigenetic drugs have been shown to enhance tumor suppressor gene expression and drug sensitivity in many other cancer cell lines and animal models. An increased understanding of epigenetic mechanisms in UM will be invaluable in the design of more potent epigenetic drugs, which when used in combination with traditional therapies, may permit improved therapeutic outcomes.
葡萄膜黑色素瘤（UM）是一种严重的人类恶性肿瘤，死亡率很高，需要持续研究新的和替代的预防及治疗形式。新兴的表观遗传学领域正开始开启一个采用当代方法降低UM风险并改善其临床治疗的时代。表观遗传变化在癌症中普遍存在，本质上是可逆的，甚至在无突变的细胞中也可导致癌症特征。本综述中包含的信息突出并扩展了UM肿瘤发生、进展和转移过程中表观遗传失调的主要机制，包括微小RNA表达、基因高甲基化和组蛋白修饰。在许多其他癌细胞系和动物模型中，表观遗传药物已被证明可增强肿瘤抑制基因表达和药物敏感性。对UM表观遗传机制的深入了解对于设计更有效的表观遗传药物将非常宝贵，这些药物与传统疗法联合使用时，可能会带来更好的治疗效果。
