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Oncogenic Signaling of Tyrosine Kinase in Cancer: Challenges and Therapeutic Opportunities

The Latest Reviews on RTKs

Series Editor: Christophe Nicot

Molecular Cancer is excited to present a series of original research and review articles that serves as an intellectual road map in the field of molecular oncology. The role of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) in cancer began only about three decades ago; however, the amount of research and progress dedicated to the study of RTKs has been explosive, considering the vast quantity of known RTKs and their unique mechanisms in manipulating cellular signaling pathways. These articles report on all aspects related to expression, regulation and function of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), non-receptor tyrosine kinases and other kinases in oncogenic signaling in cancer cells. The series aims to highlight significant and quality new findings related to targeted therapies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of acquired resistance to TKI, clinical trials and pre-clinical studies.  


  1. Receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) pathways serve as frequent oncogene drivers in solid cancers and small molecule and antibody-based inhibitors have been developed as targeted therapeutics for many of these oncog...

    Authors: Emily K. Kleczko and Lynn E. Heasley
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:60
  2. Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) play an important role in a variety of cellular processes including growth, motility, differentiation, and metabolism. As such, dysregulation of RTK signaling leads to an assor...

    Authors: Zhenfang Du and Christine M. Lovly
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:58
  3. Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) is a non-receptor kinase that plays a crucial role in oncogenic signaling that is critical for proliferation and survival of leukemic cells in many B cell malignancies. BTK was i...

    Authors: Simar Pal Singh, Floris Dammeijer and Rudi W. Hendriks
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:57

    The Correction to this article has been published in Molecular Cancer 2019 18:79

  4. The introduction of ABL Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) has significantly improved the outcome of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) patients that, in large part, achieve satisfactory hematological, cytogenetic ...

    Authors: Michele Massimino, Stefania Stella, Elena Tirrò, Chiara Romano, Maria Stella Pennisi, Adriana Puma, Livia Manzella, Antonino Zanghì, Fabio Stagno, Francesco Di Raimondo and Paolo Vigneri
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:56
  5. Searching for targets that allow pharmacological inhibition of cell proliferation in over-proliferative states, such as cancer, leads us to finely understand the complex mechanisms orchestrating the perfect co...

    Authors: Wagner Ricardo Montor, Andrei Ronaldo Oliveira Silva Escartin Salas and Fabiana Henriques Machado de Melo
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:55
  6. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs)-treatments bring significant benefit for patients harboring epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, especially for those with lung cancer. Unfortunately, the majori...

    Authors: Qian Liu, Shengnan Yu, Weiheng Zhao, Shuang Qin, Qian Chu and Kongming Wu
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:53
  7. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death by cancer in North America. A decade ago, genomic rearrangements in the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) receptor tyrosine kinase were identified in a subset of non-sm...

    Authors: Brandon Golding, Anita Luu, Robert Jones and Alicia M. Viloria-Petit
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:52
  8. Both the type I insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF1R) and Src pathways are associated with the development and progression of numerous types of human cancer, and Src activation confers resistance to anti...

    Authors: Ho Jin Lee, Phuong Chi Pham, Seung Yeob Hyun, Byungyeob Baek, Byungjin Kim, Yunha Kim, Hye-Young Min, Jeeyeon Lee and Ho-Young Lee
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:50

    The Correction to this article has been published in Molecular Cancer 2023 22:47

  9. Deregulated activity of BCR-ABL1, a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase encoded by the fusion gene resulting from the t(9;22)(q34;q11) chromosomal translocation, is thought to be the driver event responsible for initi...

    Authors: Simona Soverini, Manuela Mancini, Luana Bavaro, Michele Cavo and Giovanni Martinelli
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:49
  10. The human genome encodes 538 protein kinases that transfer a γ-phosphate group from ATP to serine, threonine, or tyrosine residues. Many of these kinases are associated with human cancer initiation and progres...

    Authors: Khushwant S. Bhullar, Naiara Orrego Lagarón, Eileen M. McGowan, Indu Parmar, Amitabh Jha, Basil P. Hubbard and H. P. Vasantha Rupasinghe
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:48
  11. Minimal residual disease is the main issue of advanced ovarian cancer treatment. According to the literature and previous results, we hypothesized that Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSC) could support this minima...

    Authors: Jennifer Pasquier, Marie Gosset, Caroline Geyl, Jessica Hoarau-Véchot, Audrey Chevrot, Marc Pocard, Massoud Mirshahi, Raphael Lis, Arash Rafii and Cyril Touboul
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:47
  12. c-Met is a receptor tyrosine kinase belonging to the MET (MNNG HOS transforming gene) family, and is expressed on the surfaces of various cells. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is the ligand for this receptor. ...

    Authors: Yazhuo Zhang, Mengfang Xia, Ke Jin, Shufei Wang, Hang Wei, Chunmei Fan, Yingfen Wu, Xiaoling Li, Xiayu Li, Guiyuan Li, Zhaoyang Zeng and Wei Xiong
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:45
  13. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations enable constitutive active downstream signaling of PI3K/AKT, KRAS/ERK and JAK/STAT pathways, and promote tumor progression by inducing uncontrolled proliferation,...

    Authors: Ulrich Baumgartner, Fabienne Berger, Ali Hashemi Gheinani, Sabrina Sofia Burgener, Katia Monastyrskaya and Erik Vassella
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:44
  14. Tumour microenvironment (TME) is a key determinant of tumour growth and metastasis. TME could be very different for each type and location of tumour and TME may change constantly during tumour growth. Multiple...

    Authors: Hor-Yue Tan, Ning Wang, Wing Lam, Wei Guo, Yibin Feng and Yung-Chi Cheng
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:43
  15. ETS variant gene 6 (ETV6) is a putative tumor suppressor and repressed by epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling in prostate cancer. Since EGFR antagonists seem ineffective in castration-resistant p...

    Authors: Yuan-Chin Tsai, Tao Zeng, Wassim Abou-Kheir, Hsiu-Lien Yeh, Juan Juan Yin, Yi-Chao Lee, Wei-Yu Chen and Yen-Nien Liu
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:42
  16. Atypical Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (aCML) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by neutrophilic leukocytosis and dysgranulopoiesis. From a genetic point of view, aCML shows a heterogeneous mutational l...

    Authors: Stefania Rocca, Giovanna Carrà, Pietro Poggio, Alessandro Morotti and Mara Brancaccio
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:40
  17. Regulation of the PI-3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt signalling pathway is essential for maintaining the integrity of fundamental cellular processes, cell growth, survival, death and metabolism, and dysregulation of this ...

    Authors: Nahal Haddadi, Yiguang Lin, Glena Travis, Ann M. Simpson, Najah T. Nassif and Eileen M. McGowan
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:37
  18. Originally identified as a metabolic enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of a phosphate group from phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to ADP in the glycolytic pathway, pyruvate kinase M2-type (PKM2) has been shown to ex...

    Authors: Ming-Chuan Hsu and Wen-Chun Hung
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:35
  19. Breast cancer is a multifactorial disease and driven by aberrant regulation of cell signaling pathways due to the acquisition of genetic and epigenetic changes. An array of growth factors and their receptors i...

    Authors: Ramesh Butti, Sumit Das, Vinoth Prasanna Gunasekaran, Amit Singh Yadav, Dhiraj Kumar and Gopal C. Kundu
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:34
  20. Lung neoplasms are the leading cause of death by cancer worldwide. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) constitutes more than 80% of all lung malignancies and the majority of patients present advanced disease at...

    Authors: Marta Román, Iosune Baraibar, Inés López, Ernest Nadal, Christian Rolfo, Silvestre Vicent and Ignacio Gil-Bazo
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:33
  21. Tyrosine kinases belong to a family of enzymes that mediate the movement of the phosphate group to tyrosine residues of target protein, thus transmitting signals from the cell surface to cytoplasmic proteins a...

    Authors: Kodappully S. Siveen, Kirti S. Prabhu, Iman W. Achkar, Shilpa Kuttikrishnan, Sunitha Shyam, Abdul Q. Khan, Maysaloun Merhi, Said Dermime and Shahab Uddin
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:31
  22. Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene activation is involved in the carcinogenesis process of several human cancers such as anaplastic large cell lymphoma, lung cancer, inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors and ...

    Authors: Carminia Maria Della Corte, Giuseppe Viscardi, Raimondo Di Liello, Morena Fasano, Erika Martinelli, Teresa Troiani, Fortunato Ciardiello and Floriana Morgillo
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:30
  23. Acquired T790 M mutation is the commonest cause of resistance for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutant patients who had progressed after first line EGFR TKI (...

    Authors: Chee-Seng Tan, Nesaretnam Barr Kumarakulasinghe, Yi-Qing Huang, Yvonne Li En Ang, Joan Rou-En Choo, Boon-Cher Goh and Ross A. Soo
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:29
  24. Tumor metabolism is a thrilling discipline that focuses on mechanisms used by cancer cells to earn crucial building blocks and energy to preserve growth and overcome resistance to various treatment modalities....

    Authors: Michaela Poliaková, Daniel M. Aebersold, Yitzhak Zimmer and Michaela Medová
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:27
  25. EGFR-dependent cell migration plays an important role in lung cancer progression. Our previous study observed that the HECT E3 ubiquitin ligase NEDD4 is significantly correlated with tumor metastasis and requi...

    Authors: Genbao Shao, Ranran Wang, Aiqin Sun, Jing Wei, Ke Peng, Qian Dai, Wannian Yang and Qiong Lin
    Citation: Molecular Cancer 2018 17:24