Conclusions
While an understanding of epigenetic changes in breast cancer has yet to be translated into clinical care, we should expect major steps forward over the next few years. Fundamental discoveries in the understanding of basic epigenetic regulatory mechanisms and dramatic advances in powerful technologies, together with large national and international epigenome projects, will enable identification of breast cancer-specific alterations, and thus potential predictive markers and treatment targets. We firmly believe we have entered an era of epigenomics that will bring benefits for breast cancer patients.
Abbreviations
CIMP: CpG island methylator phenotype; DNMT: DNA methyltransferase; ELISA: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; ER: estrogen receptor; EZH2: zeste homolog 2; GBM: glioblastoma multiforme; HDAC: histone deacetylase; JmjC: Jumonji C; LSD1: lysine-specific demethylase 1; miRNA: microRNA; NIH: National Institutes of Health; PCR: polymerase chain reaction; RT: reverse transcriptase; SATB1: special AT-rich sequence binding 1; siRNA: small interfering RNA; TGCA: The Cancer Genome Atlas.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Breast Cancer Res. 2011;13(6):225 © 2011 BioMed Central, Ltd.
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