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Updated: Oct 16, 2025

Studying TGF-β Signaling and TGF-β-induced Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition in Breast Cancer and Normal Cells
06:54

Studying TGF-β Signaling and TGF-β-induced Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition in Breast Cancer and Normal Cells

Published on: October 27, 2020

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Exploiting Canonical TGFβ Signaling in Cancer Treatment

Qi Liu1, Genwen Chen2, Jade Moore3

  • 1Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.

Molecular Cancer Therapeutics
|October 21, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) is crucial in cancer, impacting tumor growth and therapy response. Targeting TGFβ shows promise, but understanding its complex roles and developing biomarkers are key for effective cancer treatment.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Immunology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) is a pleiotropic cytokine with critical roles in cancer progression.
  • TGFβ influences cancer cell phenotypes, the tumor microenvironment, and immune suppression.
  • It integrates cancer cell-intrinsic pathways and host cell communication, affecting therapeutic responses.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review mechanisms of TGFβ in opposing cancer therapy.
  • To examine the prognostic and predictive value of TGFβ biomarkers.
  • To assess the potential of TGFβ inhibition in precision oncology.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of preclinical and clinical studies on TGFβ in cancer therapy.
  • Analysis of TGFβ's role in resistance to genotoxic, targeted, and immune therapies.
  • Evaluation of existing and potential TGFβ biomarkers and diagnostic tools.

Main Results:

  • TGFβ impedes successful cancer therapy through diverse mechanisms.
  • Clinical benefit from targeting TGFβ has remained elusive despite extensive research.
  • Identifying the specific functional TGFβ mechanism in patients is a major challenge.

Conclusions:

  • TGFβ is a critical factor in cancer therapy resistance.
  • Targeting TGFβ requires a deeper understanding of its context-specific roles.
  • Development of companion diagnostics and specific biomarkers is essential for clinical success.

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