上皮间质转化（EMT）在促进上皮细胞恶性转化、导致癌症进展和转移方面发挥着重要作用。在EMT诱导的癌症发展过程中，大量基因发生显著改变，尤其是上皮相关基因的下调和间质相关基因的上调。在癌变过程中也会对其他EMT相关基因的表达进行修改。特别是，在EMT相关基因中观察到表观遗传修饰，表明它们参与了癌症发展过程。在机械上，组蛋白、DNA、mRNA和非编码RNA的表观遗传修饰稳定改变EMT相关基因在转录和翻译水平上的表达。在这里，我们总结了关于人类癌症发展中EMT过程中观察到的表观遗传调控机制的当前知识。对于在癌症治疗中的药物设计和预防策略的改善，更好地理解EMT的表观遗传调控可能会起到积极作用。版权所有© 2023. Elsevier Inc. 发表。

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays essential roles in promoting malignant transformation of epithelial cells, leading to cancer progression and metastasis. During EMT-induced cancer development, a wide variety of genes are dramatically modified, especially down-regulation of epithelial-related genes and up-regulation of mesenchymal-related genes. Expression of other EMT-related genes is also modified during the carcinogenic process. Especially, epigenetic modifications are observed in the EMT-related genes, indicating their involvement in cancer development. Mechanically, epigenetic modifications of histone, DNA, mRNA and non-coding RNA stably change the EMT-related gene expression at transcription and translation levels. Herein, we summarize current knowledge on epigenetic regulatory mechanisms observed in EMT process relate to cancer development in humans. The better understanding of epigenetic regulation of EMT during cancer development may lead to improvement of drug design and preventive strategies in cancer therapy.Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.