Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 29, 2026

Studying Wnt Signaling During Patterning of Conducting Airways
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Studying Wnt Signaling During Patterning of Conducting Airways

Published on: October 16, 2016

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Recent Development of Wnt Signaling Pathway Inhibitors for Cancer Therapeutics

Jerry Harb1, Pen-Jen Lin1, Jijun Hao2,3

  • 1Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, 91766, USA.

Current Oncology Reports
|February 5, 2019
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Wnt signaling plays a key role in cancer development. Targeting Wnt signaling pathways with new and repurposed drugs shows promise in ongoing clinical trials for cancer treatment.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Wnt signaling pathways, both canonical and non-canonical, are increasingly recognized for their critical roles in various cancers.
  • Dysregulation of Wnt signaling is a common hallmark of cancer, driving tumor initiation and progression.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the current understanding of canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling in cancer.
  • To provide updated knowledge on ongoing clinical trials involving Wnt signaling inhibitors.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of Wnt signaling in cancer.
  • Analysis of recent clinical trial data for Wnt signaling drugs.
  • Exploration of drug repurposing for Wnt-dependent cancers.

Main Results:

  • Wnt signaling is fundamentally implicated in cancer pathogenesis.
  • Recent clinical trials of Wnt signaling-targeting drugs demonstrate encouraging outcomes.
  • Existing drugs approved for other conditions show potential for repurposing to block Wnt signaling in cancer.

Conclusions:

  • Targeting Wnt signaling is a viable therapeutic strategy for treating cancer.
  • Further research is needed to explore the efficacy of repurposed drugs in Wnt-dependent cancers.
Keywords:
CancerCanonicalClinical trialFDA approvedNon-canonicalSignalingWnt inhibitorWnt/Ca2+Wnt/PCPWnt/β-cateninβ-Catenin

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