Title:Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor Signaling in Cancer Biology and Treatment
VOLUME: 9 ISSUE: 1
Author(s):Melanie Heroult, Peter Ellinghaus, Stuart Ince and Matthias Ocker
Affiliation:Bayer Pharma AG, Müllerstrasse 178, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
Keywords:Fibroblast growth factor receptor, receptor tyrosine kinase, signal transduction inhibitor, targeted therapy.
Abstract:Growth factor signaling via receptor tyrosine kinases plays a central role in initiating and maintaining a
malignant phenotype. Fibroblast growth factors (FGF) and their receptor family (FGFR1-4) are key players in various
human solid and hematological tumors and have been linked to tumor cell proliferation, resistance to chemotherapy and
apoptosis, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. FGFRs are commonly activated by genomic alterations or mutations and
various approaches to targeted inhibition have been developed. The deeper understanding of the underlying signal
transduction mechanisms has generated novel targeted therapy approaches like ligand-traps, receptor-specific antibodies
or small molecule kinase inhibitors that are currently undergoing preclinical and clinical development for the treatment of
human cancers.
