基因组学与表观遗传学在肿瘤标志物研究中的应用

The Application of Genomics and Epigenetics in Tumor Marker Research

肿瘤标志物是一类能反映肿瘤存在与生长状态的生化物质,它们在肿瘤的早期筛查、辅助诊断、预后判断、疗效评价、复发和转移监测中具有重要意义.随着细胞与分子生物学领域的发展,人类基因组计划大量研究成果的涌现,人们对肿瘤的发生和发展机理有了越来越清楚的认识,肿瘤标志物的研究也得到了极大的拓展与更新,特别是基因组学和表观遗传学的进展大大促进了新型肿瘤标志物的发现.文章就肿瘤标志物发展历程,常用肿瘤标志物的种类和临床应用进行介绍,分析了现有肿瘤标志物的局限性,重点阐述了新型肿瘤标志物,如多种表观遗传学标志物及循环核酸的研究及应用.同时,对肿瘤标志物的研究前景提出了一些观点.

The tumor markers indicate the existence and conditions of malignant tumors, which play very important roles in the early cancer screening, diagnosis, prognosis, therapeutic evaluation, recurrence and metastasis monitoring. Currently, huge number of novel tumor markers, especially the genomie and epigenetic markers have been investigated with the development of molecular and cellular biology, particularly after the human genome project （HGP）. With more and more mechanisms of tumorigenesis being found, scientists pay much attention to tumor markers. In this review, the history of tumor markers, classifieation and clinical application are introduced. We also present the limitations of current markers and the research and application of new targets, sueh as epigenetie makers and circulating nucleie acids （CNAs）. Finally, the tendency of tumor marker application is proposed.