Histone deacetylase inhibitor pre-treatment enhances the efficacy of DNA-interacting chemotherapeutic drugs in gastric cancer

Figure 7 Graphical abstract: Model depicting stratification of patients with high histone deacetylase activity/levels of histone deacetylase inhibitor therapy. A prior treatment of histone deacetylase inhibitors would relax the condensed chromatin of a stratified patient group, making it more accessible and increasing its interaction with chemotherapeutic drugs compared to only first-line chemo treatment. This would enhance the number of cells killed at lower drug concentrations with a decrease in side-effects and toxicity. HDAC: Histone deacetylase; HAT: Histone acetyl transferase.