Epigenetics and Cancer

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

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2. Systems and Network Biology to Investigate Epigenetic De-regulatory Mechanisms of MicroRNAs in Pancreatic Cancer

   • Irfana Muqbil, Fazlul H. Sarkar, Ramzi M. Mohammad, Asfar S. Azmi

   Pages 1-12

3. Role of MicroRNAs in Cancer Epigenetics

   • Kishore B. Challagundla, Petra Wise, Muller Fabbri

   Pages 13-31

4. Epigenetic Regulation of EZH2 and Its Targeted MicroRNAs

   • Sandy Leung-Kuen Au, Irene Oi-Lin Ng, Chun-Ming Wong

   Pages 33-61

5. Epigenetics and MicroRNAs in Renal Cancer

   • Shahana Majid, Sharanjot Saini, Guoren Deng, Rajvir Dahiya

   Pages 63-84

6. Epigenetic Regulation of MicroRNA in Colon Cancer

   • Qiong Zhang, Mukesh Verma, Sharad Khare

   Pages 85-94

7. Epigenetic Regulation of miRNAs in Breast Cancer Formation and Progression

   • Zhiqian Zhang, Zhengmao Zhu, Baotong Zhang, Jin-Tang Dong

   Pages 95-114

8. Epigenetic Variations of Stem Cell Markers in Cancer

   • Sripathi M. Sureban, Dongfeng Qu, Courtney W. Houchen

   Pages 115-128

9. Recent Updates on Epigenetic Biomarkers for Prostate Cancer

   • Karen Chiam, Tanya Kate Day, Tina Bianco-Miotto

   Pages 129-150

10. Epigenetics and Racial Disparities in Prostate Cancer

    • Benjamin A. Rybicki

    Pages 151-166

11. Epigenetic Signatures of Breast Cancer Genes

    • Shrikant Anant, Animesh Dhar, Satish Ramalingam

    Pages 167-202

12. Exploiting Epigenetic Modifiers to Circumvent Melanoma Dual Resistance to TCR-Engineered Immunotherapy- and BRAFV600E-Kinase Inhibitor

    • Ali R. Jazirehi

    Pages 203-220

13. The Role of Epigenetics in Radiation Therapy and the DNA Damage Response

    • Steven P. Zielske

    Pages 221-229

14. Plant Polyphenols as Epigenetic Modulators of Glutathione S-Transferase P1 Activity

    • Vijay S. Thakur, Sanjay Gupta

    Pages 231-250

15. Epigenetic Regulations of mRNAs and miRNAs by Nutraceuticals

    • Yiwei Li, Dejuan Kong, Aamir Ahmad, Bin Bao, Fazlul H. Sarkar

    Pages 251-272

16. Towards Curative Cancer Therapy with Maspin: A Unique Window of Opportunity to Target Cancer Dormancy

    • Alexander Kaplun, M. Margarida Bernardo, Sijana Dzinic, Xiaohua Li, Ivory Dean, Benjamin Jakupovic et al.

    Pages 273-280

17. Back Matter

    Pages 281-287

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Overall, this book illustrates the complexities of the regulation and deregulation of genes mediated through epigenetics in the development and progression of human malignancies. All the articles have been carefully chosen to represent several cancer systems with state of our knowledge on the role of epigenetic deregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) and their target mRNAs along with epigenetic deregulation of mRNAs. This book also illustrates the role of several dietary agents, collectively called nutraceuticals or natural agents in modulating the epigenetic reprogramming of miRNAs and mRNAs for the prevention and/or treatment of human malignancies. It is well known that genetic aberrations, especially inherited through parents (somatic genetic alterations) contribute to the development of less than 10% of all cancer yet epigenetic alterations in genes especially through selective methylation and acetylation appears to be responsible for the development and progression of the vast majority of all cancers. Therefore, understanding the role of epigenetics in the regulation of genes especially through deregulated expression of miRNAs as presented in this book will allow scientists to devise targeted therapeutic strategies for re-expression of the lost genes or down-regulate the genes that are over-expressed in order to eradicate cancer. It is hoped that targeting epigenetics will not only target cancer cells but it will also target the tumor microenvironment (more like the entire tumor environment such as the entire host) for achieving better treatment outcomes for patients diagnosed with cancer which will lead to achieve the long-term objective for complete eradication of cancer. This book contains fifteen chapters which begins with the concept of systems and network biology for investigating the epigenetics of cancer followed by a series of articles on the role of miRNAs and their target genes in the biology of pancreatic cancer and other cancers such as breast, kidney, prostate and and colon. Since it is becoming increasingly clear that cancer stem cells (CSCs) are important in the development and progression of cancer, and CSCs are important in therapeutic resistance, treatment failure and tumor recurrence, thus the importance of CSCs and epigenetics has been highlighted by a very timely article on epigenetic variations of stem cell markers in cancer including miRNAs. Moreover, just targeting heterogeneous cancer cell populations may not be optimal to eradicate tumors and for which one must take a holistic approach for developing drugs that could also target the tumor microenvironment and tumor dormancy that are regulated through epigenetics. Keeping abreast with this thought process the concluding chapter provides a concept towards curative cancer therapy with maspin, which could be a unique window of opportunity to target tumor dormancy. Therefore, it suggest that targeting the tumor dormancy and the tumor microenvironment using novel therapeutics specifically by targeting epigenetics would become the future of medicine.

• Cancer
• Epigenetics
• Methylation and acetylation
• mRNA regulation
• miRNA regulation

• Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Dept. of Pathology, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, USA

  Fazlul H. Sarkar

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