Writing for Medical News Today, science editor at BioNews, Hannah Flynn, details the role of epigenetics in cancer research.
Historically we have thought of cancer as the result of an accumulation of mutations in the cell. Much focus has been on the environmental causes of cancerous mutations that increase an individual's risk of developing certain cancers. However, it is not just the mutations on the genome that drive cancer, but the epigenetic environment in which they exist.
Pulling together epigenetic research from studies published in peer-reviewed journals, Flynn discusses in depth how epigenetics may well hold the key to understanding where our failures to prevent and treat cancers are coming from.
