Targeting Wnt Signaling for the Treatment of Gastric Cancer

The Wnt signaling pathway is evolutionarily conserved, regulating both embryonic development and maintaining adult tissue homeostasis. Wnt signaling controls several fundamental cell functions, including proliferation, differentiation, migration, and stemness. It therefore plays an important role in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2020-05, Vol.21 (11), p.3927
Main Authors: Koushyar, Sarah, Powell, Arfon G, Vincan, Elizabeth, Phesse, Toby J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
beta Catenin - metabolism
cancer
Cell Differentiation
Cell Movement
Cell Proliferation
Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
Frizzled Receptors - metabolism
Fzd
Fzd7
gastric
Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
Humans
Ligands
Mice
Mutation
Neoplasm Metastasis
Review
stomach
Stomach Neoplasms - drug therapy
Stomach Neoplasms - metabolism
Wnt
Wnt Signaling Pathway
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Summary:The Wnt signaling pathway is evolutionarily conserved, regulating both embryonic development and maintaining adult tissue homeostasis. Wnt signaling controls several fundamental cell functions, including proliferation, differentiation, migration, and stemness. It therefore plays an important role in the epithelial homeostasis and regeneration of the gastrointestinal tract. Often, both hypo- or hyper-activation of the pathway due to genetic, epigenetic, or receptor/ligand alterations are seen in many solid cancers, such as breast, colorectal, gastric, and prostate. Gastric cancer (GC) is the fourth commonest cause of cancer worldwide and is the second leading cause of cancer-related death annually. Although the number of new diagnoses has declined over recent decades, prognosis remains poor, with only 15% surviving to five years. Geographical differences in clinicopathological features are also apparent, with epidemiological and genetic studies revealing GC to be a highly heterogeneous disease with phenotypic diversity as a result of etiological factors. The molecular heterogeneity associated with GC dictates that a single 'one size fits all' approach to management is unlikely to be successful. Wnt pathway dysregulation has been observed in approximately 50% of GC tumors and may offer a novel therapeutic target for patients who would otherwise have a poor outcome. This mini review will highlight some recent discoveries involving Wnt signaling in GC.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms21113927