Medscape: Targeting the Epigenome in Ovarian Cancer: Abstract and Introduction

Targeting the Epigenome in Ovarian Cancer: Abstract and Introduction

From Future Oncology

Targeting the Epigenome in Ovarian Cancer

Susan K Murphy

Authors and Disclosures

Posted: 03/28/2012; Future Oncology. 2012;8(2):151-164. © 2012 Future Medicine Ltd.

• Abstract and Introduction
• Ovarian Cancer
• Treatment
• Potential for Epigenetic Therapies
• Epigenome Characterization & Clinical Utility
• Progress in Using Epigenetic Therapies
• Current Limitations of Epigenetic Therapy
• Conclusion
• Future Perspective

• References

open access: Resolving the variable genome and epigenome in human disease - Knight - 2012 - Journal of Internal Medicine - Wiley Online Library

Resolving the variable genome and epigenome in human disease - Knight - 2012 - Journal of Internal Medicine

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Conclusions

There is no doubt that recent advances in genomics, currently driven by new high-throughput sequencing techniques, are taking us to remarkable new levels in our understanding of the human genome, and the genetic and epigenetic variation that exists, with important implications for our understanding of human disease. As this knowledge grows, our appreciation of the complexity with which we are faced is also underlined. For common multifactorial traits, GWAs have been very informative but leave much heritable risk unresolved. Rarer variants may prove important but in general, more integrated approaches are needed in which environmental risk factors are considered and combined with functional genomic analyses. Moreover, we need to derive functional genomic data in a disease-relevant setting as the consequences of underlying genetic and epigenetic diversity are increasingly recognized to be highly context specific.

Current technologies that can interrogate the whole genome carry with them significant caveats: these tools are new, and successful application to important biological problems requires careful experimental design and consideration of the limitations inherent in such approaches. The data sets involved are highly complex, and analysis remains extremely challenging with significant risks of false positive and negative results until the field matures. High-throughput sequencing is not a panacea but a critical tool in current genomics.  

Used wisely, it is resolving the individual genome and epigenome, at a structural and functional level, and will radically advance our understanding of disease. For Mendelian traits (Wiki) , the impact is already being felt. For common multifactorial diseases, this may take a little longer.