IMR Press / FBL / Volume 12 / Issue 9 / DOI: 10.2741/2320

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Epigenetics of prostate cancer
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1 Department of Urology, University of California San Francisco and Veterans Affairs Medical Center San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA
2 Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital/Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2007, 12(9), 3377–3397; https://doi.org/10.2741/2320
Published: 1 May 2007
Abstract

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer other than skin cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States. Its exact causes are unknown. Several risk factors have been associated with prostate cancer including age, race, family history and diet. Epigenetic mechanisms including DNA methylation and histone modifications are important means of gene regulation and play essential roles in diverse biological and disease processes. Recently, frequent epigenetic aberrations such as DNA hypo- and hypermethylation and altered histone acetylation and methylation have been observed in prostate cancer affecting the expression and function of a large array of genes, leading to tumorigenesis, tumor progression and metastasis. In this chapter, we examined the current literature regarding epigenetic changes in prostate cancer and discuss the clinical potential of cancer epigenetics for the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

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