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FOXC1: an emerging marker and therapeutic target for cancer

Abstract

The Forkhead box C1 (FOXC1) transcription factor is involved in normal embryonic development and regulates the development and function of many organs. Most recently, a large body of literature has shown that FOXC1 plays a critical role in tumor development and metastasis. Clinical studies have demonstrated that elevated FOXC1 expression is associated with poor prognosis in many cancer subtypes, such as basal-like breast cancer (BLBC). FOXC1 is highly and specifically expressed in BLBC as opposed to other breast cancer subtypes. Its functions in breast cancer have been extensively explored. This review will summarize current knowledge on the function and regulation of FOXC1 in tumor development and progression with a focus on BLBC, as well as the implications of these new findings in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (CA151610), the Avon Foundation for Women (02-2014-063), David Salomon Translational Breast Cancer Research Fund, and Eleanor and Glenn Padnick Discovery Fund in Cellular Therapy to Xiaojiang Cui, and the Fashion Footwear Charitable Foundation of New York, Inc., the Entertainment Industry Foundation, the Margie and Robert E Petersen Foundation and the Linda and Jim Lippman Research Fund to Armando Giuliano.

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Han, B., Bhowmick, N., Qu, Y. et al. FOXC1: an emerging marker and therapeutic target for cancer. Oncogene 36, 3957–3963 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2017.48

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