Epigenetic progenitors in tumor initiation and development

Epigenetic alterations in stem/progenitor cells play an important role for tumor initiation and development. Although most findings on epigenetic changes in cancers are derived from the established cancers, recent studies have indicated that these changes might be inherited from cancer progenitors. In particular, the epigenetic changes might occur before oncogenetic mutations and foster tumor initiation. Although the aberrant DNA methylation is the main outcome of epigenetic changes in cancer, abnormal RNA interference (RNAi) and chromatin remodeling appear to underlie the changes. A cancer might develop from a tumor-initiating cell (TIC) → precancerous stem cells (pCSCs) → cancer stem cells (CSCs), which might represent various stages of cancer progression. Elucidation of epigenetic changes in these progenitors might be crucial for the discovery of new anti-cancer drugs.

Section editor:Robert M. Mader – Department of Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria