AUTHOR=Henrique Rui , Luis Ana , Jeronimo Carmen TITLE=The Epigenetics of Renal Cell Tumors: from Biology to Biomarkers JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics VOLUME=3 YEAR=2012 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2012.00094 DOI=10.3389/fgene.2012.00094 ISSN=1664-8021 ABSTRACT=

Renal cell tumors (RCT) collectively constitute the third most common type of genitourinary neoplasms, only surpassed by prostate and bladder cancer. They comprise a heterogeneous group of neoplasms with distinctive clinical, morphological, and genetic features. Epigenetic alterations are a hallmark of cancer cells and their role in renal tumorigenesis is starting to emerge. Aberrant DNA methylation, altered chromatin remodeling/histone onco-modifications and deregulated microRNA expression not only contribute to the emergence and progression of RCTs, but owing to their ubiquity, they also constitute a promising class of biomarkers tailored for disease detection, diagnosis, assessment of prognosis, and prediction of response to therapy. Moreover, due to their dynamic and reversible properties, those alterations represent a target for epigenetic-directed therapies. In this review, the current knowledge about epigenetic mechanisms and their altered status in RCT is summarized and their envisaged use in a clinical setting is also provided.