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Epigenetic Targets in Cancer Epidemiology

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Cancer Epidemiology

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 471))

Summary

Recently, it has been shown that epigenetic changes are involved in early stages of tumorigenesis, and they may trigger the genetic events leading to tumor development. In cancer epidemiology, there are several epigenetic alterations involved, such as DNA hypermethylation, DNA hypomethylation, and chromatin modifications with critical roles in the initiation and progression of human neoplasms. This chapter discusses the hypermethylation profiles of several tumor types, including bladder, brain, breast, colorectal, ovarian, prostate, and other cancers as well as DNA hypomethylation phenomena together with the chromatin modifications and their role in the complex mechanism of epigenetic silencing. Moreover, the involvement of environmental exposures in cancer susceptibility is addressed. In conclusion, these epigenetic changes are important characteristics of human neoplasia, and a better understanding of these modifications and the link between these changes for each tumor type will be important in early diagnosis of cancer and cancer prevention.

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Acknowledgments

I thank Dr. Marian Catalin for reviewing this manuscript. This work was supported by the DOD grant Breast Center of Excellence-DAMD17-03-1-0446 (to Peter Shields).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Georgetown University Medical Center, Lombardi Cancer Center, Washington, DC, USA

    Ramona G. Dumitrescu

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  1. Ramona G. Dumitrescu
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA

    Mukesh Verma PhD

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© 2009 Humana Press, a part of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Dumitrescu, R.G. (2009). Epigenetic Targets in Cancer Epidemiology. In: Verma, M. (eds) Cancer Epidemiology. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 471. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-416-2_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-416-2_23

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-987-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-416-2

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