ABSTRACT
Genome sequence-based research efforts alone to treat cancer, particularly the complex solid tumor, have substantial limitations. Based on this more recent assessment and the fact that cancer development and metastasis are driven not only by the accumulation of inherited and somatic gene defects but also by epigenetic alterations, the field of epigenetics has recently attracted an explosion in biomedical and pharmaceutical research interest. Drugs that aim to restore epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation and histone modifications have already been developed. Although these epigenetic modifications-based drugs have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of malignant hematologic disease, still no phase 3 trial has shown therapeutic benefit in patients with solid cancer. Here, the latest advances in epigenomics research are discussed with progress and limitations of epigenetic therapies as well as novel directions related to epigenetic mechanisms, chromatin states and cancer genome regulatory networks are reported.

(Citation: Gastric & Breast Cancer 2011; 10(3): 200-206)

This article is 7 pages long, and includes 1 figure and 1table.

Back

Full Text

PDF Version