Khan Mohammad Afsar, Mishra Dhruv, Kumar Ranjan, Siddique Hifzur R
Molecular Cancer Genetics & Translational Research Lab, Section of Genetics, Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India.
Department of Zoology, DAV College (PG), Maa Shakumbhari University, Muzaffarnagar, India.
Int Rev Cell Mol Biol. 2025;390:1-24. doi: 10.1016/bs.ircmb.2024.09.002. Epub 2024 Oct 4.
Cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. The evolving role of epigenetics and tumor microenvironments of cancer pose significant challenges to the management of cancer. Besides genetics, epigenetic changes play a crucial role in the alteration of cellular machinery, progression, metastasis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and chemoresistance. Epigenetic changes such as DNA and RNA methylation, histone modifications, and chromatin modeling directly or indirectly influence the different stages of cancer from initiation to chemoresistant phenotype. In addition, alterations in the epigenetic machinery, such as hypo- or hyperactivation of proteins involved in epigenetic modifications, can lead to different health complications, including cancer. Recently, epi-drugs or epigenetic drugs offer emerging hope for the treatment and management of this deadly disease. Various epigenetic drugs targeting factors responsible for epigenetic modifications in cancer are currently under clinical trials. This chapter provides an overview of epigenetic modifications, their clinical implications, and the potential of epigenetic drugs for cancer treatment.
癌症是全球主要的死亡原因之一。表观遗传学和癌症肿瘤微环境的不断演变对癌症的管理构成了重大挑战。除了遗传学，表观遗传变化在细胞机制改变、进展、转移、上皮-间质转化和化疗耐药性方面发挥着关键作用。DNA和RNA甲基化、组蛋白修饰和染色质重塑等表观遗传变化直接或间接影响癌症从起始到化疗耐药表型的不同阶段。此外，表观遗传机制的改变，如参与表观遗传修饰的蛋白质的低激活或高激活，可导致包括癌症在内的不同健康并发症。最近，表观遗传药物为治疗和管理这种致命疾病带来了新的希望。目前，各种针对癌症中负责表观遗传修饰的因子的表观遗传药物正在进行临床试验。本章概述了表观遗传修饰、它们的临床意义以及表观遗传药物在癌症治疗中的潜力。
