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Review
. 2021 Oct 10;12(1):40.
doi: 10.1007/s12672-021-00433-6.

Wnt/β-catenin signal transduction pathway in prostate cancer and associated drug resistance

Chunyang Wang  1 , Qi Chen  2 , Huachao Xu  3
Affiliations
Review

Wnt/β-catenin signal transduction pathway in prostate cancer and associated drug resistance

Chunyang Wang et al. Discov Oncol. .

Abstract

Globally, prostate cancer ranks second in cancer burden of the men. It occurs more frequently in black men compared to white or Asian men. Usually, high rates exist for men aged 60 and above. In this review, we focus on the Wnt/β-catenin signal transduction pathway in prostate cancer since many studies have reported that β-catenin can function as an oncogene and is important in Wnt signaling. We also relate its expression to the androgen receptor and MMP-7 protein, both critical to prostate cancer pathogenesis. Some mutations in the androgen receptor also impact the androgen-β-catenin axis and hence, lead to the progression of prostate cancer. We have also reviewed MiRNAs that modulate this pathway in prostate cancer. Finally, we have summarized the impact of Wnt/β-catenin pathway proteins in the drug resistance of prostate cancer as it is a challenging facet of therapy development due to the complexity of signaling pathways interaction and cross-talk.

Keywords: Androgen receptor; Drug resistance; Prostate cancer; Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Planar cell polarity and Wnt/Ca2+ pathway. Figure adapted from KEGG database
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Figure adapted from KEGG database
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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