Enhancers in cancer: Genetic and epigenetic deregulation

Dysregulated transcription of proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressors are central for cancer pathogenesis. Enhancers are distal cis-regulatory elements that are decorated by specific epigenetic marks and essential for the regulation of the expression of tissue specific genes. Mutations in enhancer sequence, alteration of enhancer-promoter communication, and misregulation of epigenetic enzymes and transcription factors that bind enhancers lead to enhancer malfunction, which is often responsible for a dysregulated transcription program in cancer. Here we discuss the mechanisms underlying enhancer function, how enhancer malfunction leads to oncogenesis, and how insight for novel cancer therapies can result from studies of enhancer malfunction in cancer.