Epigenomics 101 (cancer)
Epigenomics captures heritable-but-reversible regulation on top of DNA: methylation, histone marks, chromatin accessibility. It explains cell state, plasticity, and sometimes subtyping without a DNA sequence change.
Common assays
- Bisulfite sequencing / arrays for DNA methylation
- ChIP-seq for histone modifications and transcription factors
- ATAC-seq / DNase-seq for open chromatin (regulatory potential)
Cancer angles
- CIMP-like methylation patterns in some tumor types
- Fusion oncoproteins and chromatin remodelers (AML, sarcoma contexts)
- Drug targets in the epigenetic machinery (writers, erasers, readers)
Relation to genomics
Drivers can be mutations in epigenetic regulators or epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressors. Integrate with DNA and RNA for interpretation; see Multi‑omics integration.