# Stephen B. Baylin

Source: https://onco.cc/people/stephen-baylin/  
OnCo record `stephen-baylin` (Person). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Founder of cancer epigenetics, showing that abnormal DNA methylation silences tumour-suppressor genes and can be reversed by drugs.

## Summary

Stephen B. Baylin is the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Oncology and Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is a founder of cancer epigenetics, having established that abnormal promoter DNA methylation silences tumour-suppressor genes in cancer and that this can be reversed by drugs. His selected paper reviews a decade of exploring the cancer epigenome and its biological and translational implications. He led early trials of low-dose azacitidine and HDAC inhibitors in solid tumours and continues to work on epigenetic therapy in lung cancer and acute myeloid leukaemia.

## Fields

- Kind: Person
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Role: Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Oncology and Medicine
- Specialisms: Cancer epigenetics; DNA methylation; Epigenetic therapy

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_B._Baylin
- Hopkins profile: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/details/stephen-baylin
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Baylin%20SB%5BAuthor%5D

## Connected records

- cancers: [Acute myeloid leukaemia](https://onco.cc/cancers/aml/), [Non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/nsclc/)
- technologies: [DNA methylation profiling](https://onco.cc/technologies/methylation-profiling/), [Epigenetic drugs (HDAC, DNMT, EZH2, IDH, menin, BET)](https://onco.cc/technologies/epigenetic-drugs/)
- drugs: [Azacitidine](https://onco.cc/drugs/azacitidine/)
- institutions: [Johns Hopkins Hospital / Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/johns-hopkins/)
- journals: [Nature Reviews Cancer](https://onco.cc/journals/nature-reviews-cancer/)
- key papers: [Incidence and functional consequences of hMLH1 promoter hypermethylation in colorectal carcinoma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-herman-mlh1-promoter-hypermethylation-colorectal-pnas-1998/)
- roadmaps: [Epigenetic therapy roadmap: loosening silenced genes → mutation-specific enzymes → editing the epigenome](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/epigenetics-roadmap/)
- terms: [Epigenetic progenitor theory: cancer without a first mutation](https://onco.cc/terms/epigenetic-progenitor-theory/)

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