S12-02 Promises and Challenges of Toxico-Epigenomics: Environmental Chemicals and Their Impacts on the Epigenome and Cancer Risk

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed a remarkable pace of discoveries in epigenetics which have revolutionized our understanding of complex human diseases. The spectacular advances in epigenomics that allow the analysis of the epigenome with unprecedented resolution in high throughput and genome-wide settings have further accelerated investigations in this area. The challenge posed by major international sequencing efforts is to identify changes in the (epi)genome that precede and promote tumour development, and to differentiate functionally important (“drivers”) from non-functional “passenger” events. In addition, there is little understanding about whether epigenetic changes can be used as biomarkers for exposure assessment, risk stratification, and early detection. The epigenome has been proposed to function as an interface between environmental factors and the genome, therefore, the identification and functional characterization of epigenetic events deregulated by specific environmental and lifestyle stressors should enhance our understanding of mechanisms of carcinogenesis linked to risk-factor exposures. The intrinsic reversibility of epigenetic changes represents a tremendous opportunity for the development of novel strategies for cancer treatment and prevention. I will discuss recent conceptual and technological advances in epigenetics and ongoing efforts aiming to identify epigenetic targets that could be exploited in cancer prevention and therapy as well as molecular epidemiology. I will also discuss the issues related to opportunities and challenges in the application of epigenetic testing in carcinogen identification and evaluation.