Epigenetic Drugs for Cancer and microRNAs: A Focus on Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors

Abstract

Over recent decades, it has become clear that epigenetic abnormalities are involved in the hallmarks of cancer. Histone modifications, such as acetylation, play a crucial role in cancer development and progression, by regulating gene expression, such as for oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. Therefore, histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) have recently shown efficacy against both hematological and solid cancers. Designed to target histone deacetylases (HDAC), these drugs can modify the expression pattern of numerous genes including those coding for micro-RNAs (miRNA). miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by targeting messenger RNA. Current research has found that miRNAs from a tumor can be investigated in the tumor itself, as well as in patient body fluids. In this review, we summarized current knowledge about HDAC and HDACi in several cancers, and described their impact on miRNA expression. We discuss briefly how circulating miRNAs may be used as biomarkers of HDACi response and used to investigate response to treatment.