Altered primary chromatin structures and their implications in cancer development.

The primary chromatin structure is regulated by a variety of epigenetic mechanisms that may be deregulated through gene mutations and/or gene expression alterations. In recent years, it has become evident that changes in chromatin structure may coincide with the occurrence of cancer hallmarks. The functional interrelationships between such epigenetic alterations and cancer development are just becoming manifest and, therefore, the oncology community should continue to explore the molecular mechanisms governing the primary chromatin structure, both in normal and in cancer cells, in order to improve future approaches for cancer detection, prevention and therapy, as also for circumventing drug resistance.