Wnt Signaling in the Tumor Microenvironment.

Dysregulated Wnt signaling plays a central role in initiation, progression, and metastasis in many types of human cancers. Cancer development and resistance to conventional cancer therapies are highly associated with the tumor microenvironment (TME), which is composed of numerous stable non-cancer cells, including immune cells, extracellular matrix (ECM), fibroblasts, endothelial cells (ECs), and stromal cells. Recently, increasing evidence suggests that the relationship between Wnt signaling and the TME promotes the proliferation and maintenance of tumor cells, including leukemia.

CBP/Catenin antagonists: Targeting LSCs' Achilles heel.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs), including leukemia stem cells (LSCs), exhibit self-renewal capacity and differentiation potential and have the capacity to maintain or renew and propagate a tumor/leukemia. The initial isolation of CSCs/LSCs was in adult myelogenous leukemia, although more recently, the existence of CSCs in a wide variety of other cancers has been reported. CSCs, in general, and LSCs, specifically with respect to this review, are responsible for initiation of disease, therapeutic resistance and ultimately disease relapse.