Epigenetics in cancer therapy and nanomedicine

• Main Authors: Annalisa Roberti, Adolfo F. Valdes, Ramón Torrecillas, Mario F. Fraga, Agustin F. Fernandez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2019-05-01
• Series: Clinical Epigenetics
• Subjects: Epigenetics; DNMT inhibitors; HDCA inhibitors; Nanomedicine; Nanoparticles; Nanocarriers
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13148-019-0675-4
• ISSN: 1868-7075; 1868-7083

Abstract The emergence of nanotechnology applied to medicine has revolutionized the treatment of human cancer. As in the case of classic drugs for the treatment of cancer, epigenetic drugs have evolved in terms of their specificity and efficiency, especially because of the possibility of using more effective transport and delivery systems. The use of nanoparticles (NPs) in oncology management offers promising advantages in terms of the efficacy of cancer treatments, but it is still unclear how these NPs may be affecting the epigenome such that safe routine use is ensured. In this work, we summarize the importance of the epigenetic alterations identified in human cancer, which have led to the appearance of biomarkers or epigenetic drugs in precision medicine, and we describe the transport and release systems of the epigenetic drugs that have been developed to date.