PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lin, Run-Long
AU  - Zhao, Lu-Jun
TI  - Mechanistic basis and clinical relevance of the role of transforming growth factor-β in cancer
AID  - 10.7497/j.issn.2095-3941.2015.0015
DP  - 2015 Dec 01
TA  - Cancer Biology and Medicine
PG  - 385--393
VI  - 12
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/12/4/385.short
4100  - http://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/12/4/385.full
SO  - Cancer Biol Med2015 Dec 01; 12
AB  - Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is a key factor in cancer development and progression. TGF-β can suppress tumorigenesis by inhibiting cell cycle progression and stimulating apoptosis in early stages of cancer progression. However, TGF-β can modulate cancer-related processes, such as cell invasion, distant metastasis, and microenvironment modification that may be used by cancer cells to their advantage in late stages. Corresponding mechanisms include angiogenesis promotion, anti-tumor immunity suppression, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) induction. The correlation between TGF-β expression and cancer prognosis has also been extensively investigated. Results suggest that TGF-β pathway can be targeted to treat cancer; as such, the feasibility of this treatment is investigated in clinical trials.