Department of Dermatology, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.
School of Health Professions, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2021;1287:123-154. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-55031-8_9.
Since many decades, nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSCs) is the most common malignancy worldwide. Basal cell carcinomas (BCC) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) are the major types of NMSCs, representing approximately 70% and 25% of these neoplasias, respectively. Because of their continuously rising incidence rates, NMSCs represent a constantly increasing global challenge for healthcare, although they are in most cases nonlethal and curable (e.g., by surgery). While at present, carcinogenesis of NMSC is still not fully understood, the relevance of genetic and molecular alterations in several pathways, including evolutionary highly conserved Notch signaling, has now been shown convincingly. The Notch pathway, which was first developed during evolution in metazoans and that was first discovered in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), governs cell fate decisions and many other fundamental processes that are of high relevance not only for embryonic development, but also for initiation, promotion, and progression of cancer. Choosing NMSC as a model, we give in this review a brief overview on the interaction of Notch signaling with important oncogenic and tumor suppressor pathways and on its role for several hallmarks of carcinogenesis and cancer progression, including the regulation of cancer stem cells, tumor angiogenesis, and senescence.
几十年来,非黑色素瘤皮肤癌(NMSC)一直是全球最常见的恶性肿瘤。基底细胞癌(BCC)和鳞状细胞癌(SCC)是非黑色素瘤皮肤癌的主要类型,分别占这些肿瘤的约 70%和 25%。由于发病率持续上升,NMSC 对医疗保健构成了日益严峻的挑战,尽管它们在大多数情况下是非致命的且可治愈的(例如,通过手术)。尽管目前 NMSC 的致癌机制仍不完全清楚,但几个途径中的遗传和分子改变的相关性,包括进化上高度保守的 Notch 信号通路,现在已经得到了令人信服的证明。Notch 信号通路首先在后生动物中进化形成,并在果蝇(Drosophila melanogaster)中首次发现,它控制着细胞命运决定和许多其他基本过程,这些过程不仅对胚胎发育至关重要,而且对癌症的起始、促进和进展也至关重要。选择 NMSC 作为模型,我们在这篇综述中简要概述了 Notch 信号与重要的致癌和肿瘤抑制途径的相互作用,以及它在癌症发生和进展的几个标志中的作用,包括对癌症干细胞、肿瘤血管生成和衰老的调控。