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Review
. 2016 Feb:36:8-15.
doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2016.01.003. Epub 2016 Feb 11.

The epigenetics of tumour initiation: cancer stem cells and their chromatin

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Review

The epigenetics of tumour initiation: cancer stem cells and their chromatin

Alexandra Avgustinova et al. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2016 Feb.

Abstract

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified in various tumours and are defined by their potential to initiate tumours upon transplantation, self-renew and reconstitute tumour heterogeneity. Modifications of the epigenome can favour tumour initiation by affecting genome integrity, DNA repair and tumour cell plasticity. Importantly, an in-depth understanding of the epigenomic alterations underlying neoplastic transformation may open new avenues for chromatin-targeted cancer treatment, as these epigenetic changes could be inherently more amenable to inhibition and reversal than hard-wired genomic alterations. Here we discuss how CSC function is affected by chromatin state and epigenomic instability.

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