Title:Epigenetic alterations as a universal feature of cancer hallmarks and a promising target for personalized treatments
Volume: 16
Issue: 7
Author(s): Michael Schnekenburger, Cristina Florean, Mario Dicato and Marc Diederich
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Anti-cancer therapy, Cancer hallmarks, DNA methyltransferase, Epigenetic modulators, Epigenetics, Histone
deacetylase.
Abstract: Despite considerable scientific progress, the burden of cancer in our society remains a major
public health problem. Tumorigenesis is recognized as a complex and multistep process that involves
the accumulation of successive transformational events with multi-factorial etiology. Nevertheless,
such events result in the acquisition of key hallmark characteristics that are shared by all cancer
cells. Accumulating evidence indicates that, besides genetic alterations, epigenetic mechanisms (heritable
changes in gene expression caused by modifications in chromatin structure without alterations of
DNA sequence) are implicated in the acquisition of malignant phenotype. The potential reversibility of epigenetic alterations
linked to tumorigenesis offers a promising avenue for therapeutic intervention. This review focuses on the epigenetic
regulation of the cancer hallmarks and the foreseeable use of epigenetic drugs to target these features as a promising strategy
for anti-cancer therapy. Based on this body of evidence, we believe that epigenetic deregulations can affect virtually
all cell functions and therefore therapeutic approaches with epigenetic drugs could allow multi-target approach against the
hallmarks of cancer.