WIKIMEDIA, QUBEATCancer is primarily a disease of aberrant cell identity, and cell identity is largely controlled by epigenetics. Thus, it’s no surprise that “many cancers appear to be epigenetic diseases or have a very prominent epigenetic component,” said Jean-Pierre Issa, director of the Fels Institute for Cancer Research & Molecular Biology at Temple University in Philadelphia.
The mechanisms of epigenetic influence are numerous. Changes in epigenetic marks can directly affect cell identity, which in turn can affect various cellular phenotypes. Epigenetics are also important for controlling the expression of repeat elements such as retrotransposons. Indeed, it’s known that many cancers experience a loss of LINE1 methylation, which leads to the activation of the LINE1 transposon and, often, worse patient outcomes.
A handful of epigenetic therapies have already been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and many more are in development. Issa and other presenters at a session on epigenetics at the ongoing American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting today (April 3) reviewed what is known about approved epigenome-modulating drugs and discussed several drug candidates that have ...
