Fanconi anemia pathway as a prospective target for cancer intervention

Abstract

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a recessive genetic disorder caused by biallelic mutations in at least one of 22 FA genes. Beyond its pathological presentation of bone marrow failure and congenital abnormalities, FA is associated with chromosomal abnormality and genomic instability, and thus represents a genetic vulnerability for cancer predisposition. The cancer relevance of the FA pathway is further established with the pervasive occurrence of FA gene alterations in somatic cancers and observations of FA pathway activation-associated chemotherapy resistance. In this article we describe the role of the FA pathway in canonical interstrand crosslink (ICL) repair and possible contributions of FA gene alterations to cancer development. We also discuss the perspectives and potential of targeting the FA pathway for cancer intervention.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Mar 16, 2020
Source ID
10.1186/s13578-020-00401-7

Entities

People

  • Alyan Zafar
  • Anna Palovcak
  • Fang Li
  • Fenghua Yuan
  • Wenjun Liu
  • Yanbin Zhang

Organizations

  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Immunology and Pathology
  • Molecular and genetic basis of cancer.

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology