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Wnt Signaling in Cancer: From Embryogenesis to Stem Cell Self-Renewal

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Stem Cells and Cancer

Part of the book series: Cancer Drug Discovery and Development ((CDD&D))

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Abstract

Over the years, the role of the Wingless-int (Wnt) signaling pathway during embryogenesis has been the focus of many researchers, its role being fundamental for physiological organogenesis. More recently, during adulthood, the Wnt signaling pathway has been found to be involved in the regulation of a myriad of cellular processes, including cellular motility, proliferation, differentiation, survival, and apoptosis. It is therefore unsurprising that when this pathway becomes aberrant through anomalous regulation that cancer ensues. Indeed, this developmental pathway has been involved in cancers of the blood, thyroid, breast, lung, prostate, and colon. Key is the role that Wnt signaling plays in the regulation of stem cell fates, all within tightly regulated “niches.” Careful dissection of the various mechanisms controlling this pathway and the subsequent understanding of their functional significance during tissue homeostasis; how it affects stem cells and how it may contribute to carcinogenesis will result in new molecular-based disease markers and novel therapeutic agents to specifically target these diseases.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The work is supported by the Kazan Foundation and the NIH/NCI R011R01CA093708-01A3 Grant. We would like to express our enormous gratitude for the thorough, meticulous and careful constructive reading and feedback of our manuscript by our dear colleague Dr. Geneviève Clément from the Thoracic Oncology Laboratory, Department of Surgery at the University of California San Francisco.

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  1. Department of Surgery, University of California San Francisco Cancer Centre, 1600 Divisadero Street, Box 1724, San Francisco, CA, 94143-1724, USA

    Adam Yagui-Beltrán, Biao He & David M Jablons

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  1. Adam Yagui-Beltrán
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    Yagui-Beltrán, A., He, B., Jablons, D.M. (2009). Wnt Signaling in Cancer: From Embryogenesis to Stem Cell Self-Renewal. In: Teicher, B., Bagley, R. (eds) Stem Cells and Cancer. Cancer Drug Discovery and Development. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-933-8_4

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