In cancer cells the epigenetic landscape is highly altered. Hypermethylation of certain stretches of DNA is the most well-studied epigenetic modification in cancer, and each tumor type has its own specific pattern. Histone modifications also occur, as does remodeling of chromatin. And disruption of noncoding RNA sequences, the so-called “dark genome,” that code for micro- RNAs also seems to play a role in how cancer originates and spreads.
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