[Research progress of Lgr4 in gastrointestinal carcinomas]

Gastrointestinal carcinomas, whose incidence increases in recent years, are among the malignancies with highest morbidity and mortality. Many patients are always advanced stages when having diagnosis. So far, there are no any reliable tumor biomarkers which are able to screen people with high risk of developing cancer. Studies have shown that the expression level of Lgr4 is high in gastrointestinal carcinomas and Lgr4 is useful in diagnosis, differential diagnosis and prognosis judgment of these carcinomas. Lgr4 belongs to the G-protein-coupled receptors family. Its function is to potentiate Wnt signaling and plays an important role in the development of multiple organs. Recent studies find that Lgr4 has close relationship with the development of many gastrointestinal carcinomas, such as gastric cancer and colorectal cancer(CRC). In this article we review recent progress in understanding the relationship between Lgr4 and gastrointestinal carcinomas.