title: The role of epigenetics in environmental and occupational carcinogenesis.
abstract: Over the last few years there has been an increasing effort in identifying environmental and occupational carcinogenic agents and linking them to the incidence of a variety of human cancers. The carcinogenic process itself is multistage and rather complex involving several different mechanisms by which various carcinogenic agents exert their effect. Amongst them are epigenetic mechanisms often involving silencing of tumor suppressor genes and/or activation of proto-oncogenes, respectively. These alterations in gene expression are considered critical during carcinogenesis and have been observed in many environmental- and occupational-induced human cancers. Some of the underlying mechanisms proposed to account for such differential gene expression include alterations in DNA methylation and/or histone modifications. Throughout this article, we aim to provide a current account of our understanding on how the epigenetic pathway is involved in contributing to an altered gene expression profile during human carcinogenesis that ultimately will allow us for better cancer diagnostics and therapeutic strategies.
authors.affiliation: Nevada Center for Ethics and Health Policy, University of Nevada, Reno, 89557, USA.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ziech
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: Aglaia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pappa
authors.forename: Vasiliki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Malamou-Mitsi
authors.forename: Stavroula
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Georgakila
authors.forename: Alexandros G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Georgakilas
authors.forename: Mihalis I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Panayiotidis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002274:Carcinogens, Environmental / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016273:Occupational Exposure
chemical_list: D002274:Carcinogens, Environmental