If our daily environment can lead to cancer, and it can also alter our epigenetics, then it only makes sense that there is a connection between all three things. Here are the articles EpiGenie has written about showing the evidence linking environmental factors, and epigenetic mechanisms together with cancer.
Environmental – Epigenetic Link to Cancer
Take a Bite Out of Cancer with the Epigenetics Diet
Whether you’re into the In-N-Out burger, fries, and milkshake trifecta, or you’re more of a “cleanse” type, the epigenetics enthusiast in you will be interested in a recent review by Trygve Tollefsbol and colleagues that reveals that certain foods contain ingredients that may prevent and treat cancer.
Epimutation: The New Risk Factor on the BRCA1 Block
Women with mutations in the BRCA1 gene have a predisposition to developing breast and ovarian cancer. OK, that wasn’t necessarily a newsflash, but wait…some changes at the epigenetic level that may predispose women to breast cancer, even if they don’t have a faulty BRCA1 gene.
Carcinogens’ Link to DNA Methylation in Cancer May Be a Smoke Screen
Smoking is clearly bad for you. If bad breath, hacking coughs and emphysema aren’t bad enough, there is always lung cancer to ruin your day. Although there’s tons of evidence linking smoking to aberrant DNA methylation and lung cancer, researchers still haven’t figured out what exactly kicks off that whole process.Surprisingly, they found that B[a]PDE treated cells had nearly identical global methylation patterns to untreated cells. Clearly B[a]PDE isn’t the carcinogenic trigger they were looking for.
The Aging Methylome and Cancer
Between the body aches and wrinkles, most of us don’t need to be reminded that getting old is the most significant health risk. A new report in Genome Research explains how promoters of certain Polycomb group protein target genes (PCGTs) become increasingly hypermethylated as we age; leaving us more at risk for cancer.
Nickel Exposure Takes Its Toll Via H3K4me3
It’s well known that nickel-based compounds are linked to cancer. If we had a Nickel for every time we hear about how dangerous nickel exposure is, well, we might be able to buy a cup of coffee (Nickels just aren’t worth what they used to be!). New research is focusing on the epigenetic “how” behind the high health costs of nickel compounds and aims to uncover the mechanism that causes exposure to nickel compounds to be so harmful.