Epigenetic events in early breast cancer

ABSTRACT: Subpopulations of primary Human Mammary Epithelial Cells (HMEC) have the unique ability to escape a period of growth arrest and continue to proliferate. These cells, called post-selection or variant cells (vHMEC), share features with premalignant breast cancer lesions, including p16INK4A promoter hypermethylation. Epigenetic silencing of tumour suppressor genes through DNA methylation and histone modification is an early event in tumorigenesis. One of the main challenges is to find genes or gene pathways that are commonly silenced to provide early epigenetic diagnostic and therapeutic cancer targets. To identify very early epigenetic events that occur in breast cancer, we used microarrays to screen for gene pathways that were suppressed in post-selection HMECs, but reactivated after trea

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

SUBMITTER: Hinshelwood RA 

PROVIDER: S-ECPF-GEOD-8007 | biostudies-other | 2007 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other