[Wnt signalling pathway and cervical cancer]

Cervical cancer (CC) is a pathology that arises in the cervical epithelium, whose major cause of risk is human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Due to the fact that HPV infection per se is not enough to generate a carcinogenic process, it has been proposed that alterations in the Wnt signaling pathway are involved in cervical carcinogenesis. The Wnt family consists of 13 receptors and 19 ligands, and it is highly conserved phylogenetically due to its contribution in different biological processes, such as embryogenesis and tissue regeneration. Additionally, this signaling pathway modulates various cellular functions, for instance: cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and cell polarity. This paper describes the Wnt signaling pathways and alterations that have been found in members of this family in different cancer types and, especially, in CC.