title: Detection of epigenetic aberrations in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cause of cancer death worldwide. Hepatocarcinogenesis is a complex, multistep process. It is now recognized that HCC is a both genetic and epigenetic disease; genetic and epigenetic components cooperate at all stages of hepatocarcinogenesis. Epigenetic changes involve aberrant DNA methylation, posttranslational histone modifications and aberrant expression of microRNAs all of which can affect the expression of oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes and other tumor-related genes and alter the pathways in cancer development. Several risk factors for HCC, including hepatitis B and C virus infections and exposure to the chemical carcinogen aflatoxin B1 have been found to influence epigenetic changes. Their interactions could play an important role in the initiation and progression of HCC. Discovery and detection of biomarkers for epigenetic changes is a promising area for early diagnosis and risk prediction of HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health and Cancer Center of Columbia University, Room 1608, 630 West 168th Street, New York, NY, 10032, USA, yz6@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Yujing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D063646:Carcinogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D057890:Epigenomics / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*