Cancer risk associated with key epigenetic changes occurring through normal aging process
Some scientists have hypothesized that tumor-promoting changes in cells during cancer development -- particularly an epigenetic change involving DNA methylation -- arise from rogue cells escaping a natural cell deterioration process called senescence. Now, researchers have demonstrated that instead, tumor-associated epigenetic states evolve erratically during early stages of tumor development, eventually selecting for a subset of genes that undergo the most changes during normal aging and in early tumor development.
Source: ScienceDaily