Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: Stem cell biology has come of an age.During the past few years, CSCs have been increasingly found in many malignancies.Tumor relapse and metastasis remains major hurdle for improving overall cancer survival.CSCs basically have slow growth rates and are resistant to chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy.Thus, new treatment strategies targeting CSCs can be developed.Various stem cell maintenance pathways such as Notch, Wnt and Hedgehog are found to be activated in the various cancers stem cells.Hedgehog signaling is most active during the embryonic development and aberrant reactivation of the pathway in adult tissue can lead to development of cancer.A variety of cancers such as brain, gastrointestinal, lung, breast and prostate cancer shows possible signs of activation of Hedgehog pathway.Targeted inhibition of Hedgehog signaling can be found effective in the treatment and prevention of many types of human cancers.Hence, the discovery and synthesis of specific Hedgehog pathway inhibitors may have significant clinical implications in novel cancer therapeutics.In this review, we have discussed Hedgehog signaling and its activation in different types of cancers and the development of its targeted therapies.
Institution: Gujarat Cancer & Research Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2891007259