Determine the Role of Canonical Wnt Signaling in Ovarian Tumorigenesis
Abstract
Ovarian cancer ranks first as the cause of death for gynecological cancers. Obviously, there is an urgent need to develop novel treatment methods for ovarian cancer. To do this, we must better understand key events associated with ovarian cancer development. In order to combat cancer, a normal cell's typical response to a tumor-promoting genetic alteration is irreversible growth arrest, consequently preventing the normal human cell from progressing towards becoming a cancer cell. This process is termed senescence. When this process fails, those cells containing tumor-promoting genetic alterations can grow without control and become a tumor. The potential use of cellular senescence for cancer therapy would rely on reactivation of this process in cancer cells. We have previously discovered a pathway that opposes the beneficial process of senescence. This pathway is referred to as the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. Therefore, we hypothesize that canonical Wnt signaling pathway contributes to the development of ovarian cancer through bypassing senescence. The proposed studies may lead to development of strategies for ovarian cancer treatment using reactivation of cellular senescence as a novel mechanism by targeting ovarian cancer promoting canonical Wnt signaling.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA555909
Entities
People
- Rugang Zhang