Hot topics in epigenetic regulation of cancer self-renewal for pancreatic tumors: future trends

Abstract

Self-renewal is critical in order for a cancer to proliferate, grow and eventually metastasize. Today, several molecular mechanisms are being studied, which may explain the emergence of this property in advanced cancer. Pancreatic cancer is both a deadly and highly recurrent tumor, relying heavily on accelerated proliferation. Understanding self-renewal is this tumor type is therefore likely to prove essential for reaching better disease control. Recent advances in our understanding of telomere maintenance pathways are beginning to yield those insights. Indeed, it is now known that telomerase reactivation in cancer is intimately related with expression of TERT gene. The multimodal regulation of this locus, along with transcriptional output itself, both serve as prognostic factors across a variety of tumor types.

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