Notch signaling: An emerging therapeutic target for cancer treatment. Issue 1 (1st December 2015) - Yuan, Xun
Highlights: The Notch signaling pathway is commonly activated in cancer and its activation plays key role in the progress of cancer. Pharmacological inhibitors of this pathway can overcome chemoresistance. Notch inhibitor alone or in combination with chemotherapeutics is clinically evaluated on some cancer. Abstract: The Notch pathway is involved in cell proliferation, differentiation and survival. The Notch signaling pathway is one of the most commonly activated signaling pathways in cancer. Alterations include activating mutations and amplification of the Notch pathway, which play key roles in the progression of cancer. Accumulating evidence suggests that the pharmacological inhibition of this pathway can overcome chemoresistance. Efforts have been taken to develop Notch inhibitors as a single agent or in combination with clinically used chemotherapeutics to treat cancer. Some Notch inhibitors have been demonstrated to have therapeutic efficacy in preclinical studies. This review summarizes the recent studies and clinical evaluations of the Notch inhibitors in cancer.