Deregulation of gene expression is a hallmark of cancer. Although genetic lesions have been the focus of cancer research for many years, it has become increasingly recognized that aberrant epigenetic modifications also play major roles in the tumorigenic process. These modifications are imposed on chromatin, do not change the nucleotide sequence of DNA, and are manifested by specific patterns of gene expression that are heritable through many cell divisions. We review these modifications in normal and cancer cells and the evolving approaches used to study them. Additionally, we outline advances in their potential use for cancer diagnostics and targeted epigenetic therapy.

中文翻译：

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癌症表观遗传学：修饰，筛选和治疗。

基因表达的失调是癌症的标志。尽管遗传损伤已成为癌症研究的多年重点，但越来越多的人认识到异常的表观遗传修饰在致瘤过程中也起着重要作用。这些修饰作用于染色质，不改变DNA的核苷酸序列，并通过可通过许多细胞分裂遗传的特定基因表达模式来体现。我们回顾了正常细胞和癌细胞中的这些修饰以及用于研究它们的进化方法。此外，我们概述了它们在癌症诊断和靶向表观遗传学治疗中的潜在用途方面的进展。