Cancer epigenetics

Definition

Cancer epigenetics is the study of somatically heritable changes to molecular processes that influence the flow of information between the DNA of cancer cells and their gene expression patterns. This includes comparative (tumour cell versus normal cell) investigation of nuclear organization, DNA methylation, histone modification and the consequences of genetic mutations in genes encoding epigenetic regulators.

Latest Research and Reviews

Research | 21 May 2018
Resetting the epigenetic balance of Polycomb and COMPASS function at enhancers for cancer therapy
Interactions between the MLL3 histone methyltransferase and the BAP1–UTX complex set the level of histone H3K27 methylation and suggest a new therapy for MLL3-mutant cancer.
- Lu Wang
- , Zibo Zhao
- , Patrick A. Ozark
- , Damiano Fantini
- , Stacy A. Marshall
- , Emily J. Rendleman
- , Kira A. Cozzolino
- , Nundia Louis
- , Xingyao He
- , Marc A. Morgan
- , Yoh-hei Takahashi
- , Clayton K. Collings
- , Edwin R. Smith
- , Panagiotis Ntziachristos
- , Jeffrey N. Savas
- , Lihua Zou
- , Rintaro Hashizume
- , Joshua J. Meeks
- & Ali Shilatifard
Nature Medicine 24, 758–769
Reviews | 24 April 2018
Non-canonical functions of the RB protein in cancer
This Opinion discusses studies indicating a direct role of RB in chromatin regulation and DNA repair. The authors propose that a non-canonical RB pathway exists, which is independent of the function of RB in cell cycle regulation and which contributes to cancer progression.
- Frederick A. Dick
- , David W. Goodrich
- , Julien Sage
- & Nicholas J. Dyson
Nature Reviews Cancer, 1–10
Research | 30 April 2018
RNA analysis of cancer predisposing genes in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue determines aberrant splicing
- Anne ML Jansen
- , Heleen M van der Klift
- , Marieke AE Roos
- , Jaap DH van Eendenburg
- , Carli MJ Tops
- , Juul T Wijnen
- , Frederik J Hes
- , Hans Morreau
- & Tom van Wezel
European Journal of Human Genetics, 1–8
Research | 30 April 2018 | open
Galactic Cosmic Radiation Induces Persistent Epigenome Alterations Relevant to Human Lung Cancer
- E. M. Kennedy
- , D. R. Powell
- , Z. Li
- , J. S. K. Bell
- , B. G. Barwick
- , H. Feng
- , M. R. McCrary
- , B. Dwivedi
- , J. Kowalski
- , W. S. Dynan
- , K. N. Conneely
- & P. M. Vertino
Scientific Reports 8, 6709
Reviews | 27 April 2018 | open
Long non-coding RNAs: crucial regulators of gastrointestinal cancer cell proliferation
- Jiaxin Chen
- , Shuiping Liu
- & Xiaotong Hu
Cell Death Discovery 4, 50
Research | 25 April 2018
Blast phase chronic myelomonocytic leukemia: Mayo-MDACC collaborative study of 171 cases
- Mrinal M. Patnaik
- , Ana A. Pierola
- , Rangit Vallapureddy
- , Fevzi F. Yalniz
- , Tapan M. Kadia
- , Elias J. Jabbour
- , Terra Lasho
- , Curtis A. Hanson
- , Rhett P. Ketterling
- , Hagop M. Kantarjian
- , Ayalew Tefferi
- & Guillermo Garcia-Manero
Leukemia, 1–7

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News and Comment

Research Highlights | 03 April 2018
Pancreatic cancer: The COMPASS shows the way
Deregulation of the COMPASS-like complex, via loss of KDM6A in females and loss of both KDM6A and its Y chromosome homologue UTY in males, is important for activation of oncogene-associated super-enhancers and the development of pancreatic adenocarcinoma of the squamous subtype.
- Sarah Seton-Rogers
Nature Reviews Cancer 18, 373
Research Highlights | 09 March 2018
Epigenetics: Methylating patterns
Xie et al. show that senescence-associated DNA methylation changes evolve independently of stochastic tumour-associated methylation changes and that a subset of commonly methylated genes with the highest gains are associated with early tumorigenesis and ageing.
- Anna Dart
Nature Reviews Cancer 18, 206
Correspondence | 12 March 2018 | open
Infrequent occurrence of TET1, TET3, and ASXL2 mutations in myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms
- Terra L. Lasho
- , Rangit Vallapureddy
- , Christy M. Finke
- , Abhishek Mangaonkar
- , Naseema Gangat
- , Rhett Ketterling
- , Ayalew Tefferi
- & Mrinal M. Patnaik
Blood Cancer Journal 8, 32
Research Highlights | 22 February 2018
Breast cancer: Staying silent
Mitogen- and stress-activated kinase 1 (MSK1) has been identified as an epigenetic modulator of luminal gene expression in breast cancer, maintaining latency of bone micrometastases.
- Ulrike Harjes
Nature Reviews Cancer 18, 136
Correspondence | 15 February 2018
Revisiting Wilms tumour surveillance in Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome with IC2 methylation loss, reply
- Frédéric Brioude
- , Raoul Hennekam
- , Jet Bliek
- , Carole Coze
- , Thomas Eggermann
- , Giovanni B. Ferrero
- , Christian Kratz
- , Yves Le Bouc
- , Saskia M. Maas
- , Deborah J. G. Mackay
- , Eamonn R. Maher
- , Alessandro Mussa
- & Irene Netchine
European Journal of Human Genetics 26, 471–472
Correspondence | 15 February 2018
Reply to Brioude et al
- Jack Brzezinski
- , Cheryl Shuman
- , Sanaa Choufani
- , Peter Ray
- , Dimitri J Stavropoulos
- , Raveen Basran
- , Leslie Steele
- , Nicole Parkinson
- , Ronald Grant
- , Paul Thorner
- , Armando Lorenzo
- & Rosanna Weksberg
European Journal of Human Genetics 26, 473–474

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