国際個別化医療学会

DNA methylation plays an important role in regulating normal development and tumor genesis. DNA methylation is involved in epigenetic phenomena without alternation of DNA sequences in genes and regulates gene expression at transcriptional level. In tumor genesis, aberrations of DNA methylation such as hypomethylation in the global chromosome and hypermethylation of some of tumor suppressor genes are observed. Hypermethylation of promoter region on tumor suppressor genes leads to inactivation of the gene function. Moreover, DNA methylation has potential to be new biomarker of a cancer diagnosis and target of cancer therapy. This review highlights the role of DNA methylation and cancer.

■Key words：cancer, DNA methylation, epigenetics, biomarker, gene expression
■連絡先　1-9-5 Kudankita, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0073 Japan