Get the current entry element in the CP (edit entry view)?
I've been able to modify the entry editing form by creating a plugin that will include some javascript into CP layout. Then with javascript, I use some checks to make sure that I'm in the right place before doing any adjustments.

For example, in the following code, I checked if I'm editing an entry within section 32, then the label of postDate field will be changed, and also the expiryDate field will be hidden.

public function init()
{

    if (craft()-&gt;request-&gt;isCpRequest())
    {
        $postDateLabel = JsonHelper::encode(Craft::t('Issue Date'));

        $js = &lt;&lt;&lt;EOT

if (document.getElementById('entry-form')) {
    \$(function() {
        if ( \$('input[name="sectionId"]').val() == 32 ) {
            \$('#postDate-field label').html($postDateLabel);
            \$('#expiryDate-field').addClass('hidden');
        }
    });
}

EOT;

        craft()-&gt;templates-&gt;includeJs($js);

    }

}


Hope that is what you're looking for.