Wnt/β Catenin-Mediated Signaling Commonly Altered in Colorectal Cancer

Abstract

Colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer in females and the third most common cancer diagnosed in males (Torre et al.¹). In 2012, there were about 1.4 million cases and 693,900 deaths due to colorectal cancer worldwide. It is more common in developed countries, and North America, Europe, and Australia have the highest incidence rates. In the United States, adults have a 5% chance of developing colorectal cancer (Cancer of the colon and rectum-SEER stat fact sheets²). Due to the high prevalence of colorectal cancer, understanding the mechanism underlying its initiation and progression in order to find better therapeutic agents will have a high impact in the field of oncology and may improve the treatment of other cancers with shared mechanistic properties. Aberrant Wnt/β-catenin signaling is a characteristic feature of colorectal cancer development and is the focus of this review.

Keywords: Cancer stem cells; Cancer treatment; Cell adhesion; Colorectal cancer; Metastasis; Migration; Mutation; Progression; Wnt; β-Catenin.