Fig. 4. Genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlie the hallmarks of cancer.

(A) Epigenetic mechanisms involving aberrant chromatin restriction or plasticity can give rise to each classic hallmark of cancer (see main text for citations). Figure adapted from (11). Human cancers are underpinned by varying degrees of epigenetic and genetic contributions, as conceptualized for three central nervous system tumors (B–D). While most hallmarks can be traced to genetic drivers in glioblastoma, epigenetic factors predominate in pediatric tumors such as ependymoma, which exhibits DNA hyper-methylation but lacks recurrent mutations.