Targeting the epigenetic reader “BET” as a therapeutic strategy for cancer

Abstract

Cancer is a heterogeneous disease which has two specific characteristics that includes uncontrolled cell growth and a variety of genetic mutations acquired during carcinogenesis. The acknowledgement of the involvement of transcriptional dysregulation in the onset and advancement of cancer has resulted in the recognition of inhibitors targeting the transcriptional machinery. Transcriptional regulation is necessary for homoeostasis and the integrity of the genome because disrupted transcriptional programmes can promote cancer through two primary mechanisms: oncogene activation and tumour suppressor gene silencing. Both of these processes may then have an impact on a variety of cancer-related traits, affecting the emergence and spread of the cancer [1]. Therefore, it is important to understand these transcriptional regulators that are associated with such genes.