[Novel signal transduction pathways: the molecular basis for targeted cancer therapies in Hedgehog/Notch/Wnt pathway]

Abstract

Aberrant activation of the Wnt, Notch and Hedgehog pathways via mutations or ligand overexpression has been implicated in a large number of cancer types where they are involved in functions ranging from tumor initiation to cancer stem cell (CSC) maintenance and angiogenesis. Agents targeting each one of these three pathways have now reached clinical trials, and the first one of these, Vismodegib, a hedgehog pathway inhibitor, was approved in 2012 by US FDA for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma. Development of agents that target critical steps in these pathways as novel signal transduction pathways will be complicated by signaling cross-talk. The role that embryonic signaling pathways play in the function of CSCs, the development of new anti-CSC therapeutic agents, and the complexity of potential CSC signaling cross-talk are being explored coupled with early phase I clinical studies.