Cancer's potential on-off switch linked to epigenetics
Thursday, May 15, 2014 - 19:01
in Health & Medicine
An 'on and off' epigenetic switch could be a common mechanism behind the development of different types of cancer, a group of researchers has proposed. Epigenetics is the phenomena whereby genetically identical cells express their genes differently, resulting in different physical traits. The existence of this epigenetic switch is indirectly supported by the fact that tumors develop through different stages. When cells rapidly grow during cancer progression, they become stuck in their current stage of development and their cell characteristics do not change.