Student Research Committee, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord,Iran.
Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Basic Health Sciences Institute, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord,Iran.
Curr Mol Med. 2022;22(1):8-24. doi: 10.2174/1566524021666210211112800.
Epigenetic modifications refer to reversible changes in gene expression. Epigenetic changes include DNA methylation, histone modification, and non-coding RNAs that are collectively called epigenome. Various epigenetic effects account for the main impacts of environment and lifestyle on multifactorial diseases, such as cancers. The environmental impacts on cancers act as double-edged swords. While some of them are involved in cancer development, some others contribute to preventing it. In this review article, the keywords "cancer", "epigenetic", "lifestyle", "carcinogen", " cancer inhibitors" and related words were searched to finding a link between environmental factors and epigenetic mechanisms influencing cancer in ISI, PUBMED, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar databases. Based on the literature, environmental factors that are effective in cancer development or cancer prevention will be divided into physical, chemical, biological, and lifestyle types in this review. Different types of epigenetic mechanisms known for each of these agents will be addressed. Unregulated changes in epigenome play roles in tumorigenicity and cancer development. The action mechanism and genes targeted which are related to the signaling pathway for epigenetic alterations determine whether environmental agents are carcinogenic or prevent cancer. Having knowledge about the effective factors and related mechanisms such as epigenetic on cancer can help to prevent and improve cancer treatment.
表观遗传修饰是指基因表达的可逆变化。表观遗传变化包括 DNA 甲基化、组蛋白修饰和非编码 RNA，它们统称为表观基因组。各种表观遗传效应解释了环境和生活方式对多因素疾病（如癌症）的主要影响。环境对癌症的影响犹如双刃剑。一方面，某些环境因素参与癌症的发生发展；另一方面，某些环境因素又有助于癌症的预防。在这篇综述文章中，我们在 ISI、PUBMED、SCOPUS 和 Google Scholar 数据库中使用了“癌症”、“表观遗传”、“生活方式”、“致癌物”和“癌症抑制剂”等关键词，搜索了环境因素与影响癌症的表观遗传机制之间的联系。基于文献，我们将在本综述中把对癌症发生发展有影响的环境因素分为物理、化学、生物和生活方式等类型。针对这些因素，我们将介绍其已知的不同类型的表观遗传机制。表观基因组的失调变化在肿瘤发生和癌症发展中起作用。与表观遗传改变相关的信号通路的作用机制和靶向基因决定了环境因子是致癌还是预防癌症。了解与癌症相关的有效因素和相关机制（如表观遗传学）有助于预防和改善癌症治疗。
