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Updated: Sep 29, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advancing Personalized Medicine in Ovarian Cancer
Published on: February 23, 2024
[Epigenetics and oncology: Two faces of the personalization of medicine]
1Laboratoire PACTE de sciences sociales, UMR CNRS 5194, Université Grenoble Alpes, Sciences Po Grenoble, 1030 avenue centrale, Domaine universitaire, 38400 Saint Martin d'Hères, France.
Abstract:
In this article, we outline the two dominant concepts of personalized medicine put forward by epigenetics in the field of oncology. First, knowledge on the molecular processes involved in tumor progression contributes to molecularize medicine, extending genomic medicine. Then, the identification of epigenetic mechanisms underlying the environmental causes of cancers brings scientific legitimacy to products and services whose advertising promotes the ability of each person to protect herself from cancer by adapting her lifestyle. Lastly, we argue that research in environmental epigenetics could open a new route for personalized medicine in oncology, where epigenetics contributes to an individualized assessment of patients' life paths.
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