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Previous Volume 350:947-948 February 26, 2004 Number 9 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: Herman and Baylin (Nov. 20 issue)¹ provide an excellent review of gene silencing in cancer in association with promoter hypermethylation. However, some readers who are new to the field will be confused by the introductory section of their article — in particular, the authors' explanation of the term "epigenetic," which suggests that this term describes "a heritable change in the pattern of gene expression." In fact, in this context, promoter hypermethylation is a somatic event, and although it may be passed on to daughter somatic cells, it is not heritable in the germ line. Although it is . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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