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Epithelial–mesenchymal-transition-inducing transcription factors: new targets for tackling chemoresistance in cancer?

Oncogene volume 37, pages 6195–6211 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Chemoresistance remains a major complication of cancer treatments. Recent data provide strong evidence that chemoresistance is linked to epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), a latent developmental process, which is re-activated during cancer progression. EMT involves transcriptional reprogramming and is driven by specific EMT transcription factors (EMT-TFs). In this review, we provide support for the idea that EMT-TFs contribute to the development of resistance against cancer therapy and discuss how EMT-TFs might be targeted to advance novel therapeutic approaches to the treatment of cancer.

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Acknowledgements

Our studies on epithelial cell plasticity and cancer are supported by Cancer Genomics Centre Netherlands. We are grateful to Jonas Fuxe for critical comments on the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Oncode Institute, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands

    Jente van Staalduinen, David Baker, Peter ten Dijke & Hans van Dam

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van Staalduinen, J., Baker, D., ten Dijke, P. et al. Epithelial–mesenchymal-transition-inducing transcription factors: new targets for tackling chemoresistance in cancer?. Oncogene 37, 6195–6211 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41388-018-0378-x

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