The epigenetic regulation plays an important role in normal development and maintenance of tissue specific genes expression in humans and the disturbance of these patterns lead to changes involved in tumor formation. More recently, epigenetic changes have been observed in early stages of tumor development and together with the genetic alterations have been defined as abnormalities, necessary for cancer initiation and progression. In, Cancer Epigenetics: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers reviewed these epigenetics changes in different tumor types and described several technologies that are currently available to detect epigenetic changes. These technologies have lead to a better understanding of the processes in normal and cancerous cells. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology™ series format, the chapters include the kind of detailed description and implementation advice that is crucial for getting optimal results in the laboratory.
Thorough and intuitive, Cancer Epigenetics: Methods and Protocols aids scientists in continuing to study epigenetic alterations used in clinical practice as biomarkers of early cancerous lesions or markers of progression and prognosis.