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Updated: Jan 24, 2026

Studying Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cell Characteristics for Developing New Treatment Strategies
Published on: June 20, 2015
Deciphering The Potential Role of Hox Genes in Pancreatic Cancer
Tzu-Lei Kuo1, Kuang-Hung Cheng2, Li-Tzong Chen3,4,5
1National Institute of Cancer Research, National Health Research Institutes, Tainan 704, Taiwan. rayfish@nhri.org.tw.
Abstract:
The Hox gene family plays an important role in organogenesis and animal development. Currently, 39 Hox genes that are clustered in four chromosome regions have been identified in humans. Emerging evidence suggests that Hox genes are involved in the development of the pancreas. However, the expression of Hox genes in pancreatic tumor tissues has been investigated in only a few studies. In addition, whether specific Hox genes can promote or suppress cancer metastasis is not clear. In this article, we first review the recent progress in studies on the role of Hox genes in pancreatic cancer. By comparing the expression profiles of pancreatic cancer cells isolated from genetically engineered mice established in our laboratory with three different proliferative and metastatic abilities, we identified novel Hox genes that exhibited tumor-promoting activity in pancreatic cancer. Finally, a potential oncogenic mechanism of the Hox genes was hypothesized.
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