Hypoxia is one of the major stressors involved in carcinogenesis, and tumor hypoxia is one of the well-described factors that can lead to resistance to conventional chemo- and radiotherapy. The well-known mechanism of response to hypoxia involves hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), which are stabilized by low oxygen availability and control the expression of a large number of genes, such as those involved in cell survival, angiogenesis, glycolysis, and invasion/metastasis. An important question is how cells sense oxygen levels to coordinate different biological process during hypoxia and how these processes can be regulated to reduce the benefits that cancer obtains in a hypoxic environment. Different reports evidenced as cancer cells under a hypoxia condition activate survival pathways, DNA damage repair pathways, and developmental pathways, decreasing the efficacy of therapies. Since hypoxia is known to be a negative prognostic and predictive factor, and it is generally accepted as a major limitation for tumor control in conventional therapy resulting in a poor clinical outcome, this Special Issue will be dedicated to all those studies that will help to clarify the mechanism of hypoxia in cancer and to new potential therapeutic approaches for reducing hypoxia.
Hypoxia and Cancer: Mechanism of Action and Potential Therapeutic Approaches
Nabissi M
Primo
2020-01-01
Abstract
Hypoxia is one of the major stressors involved in carcinogenesis, and tumor hypoxia is one of the well-described factors that can lead to resistance to conventional chemo- and radiotherapy. The well-known mechanism of response to hypoxia involves hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), which are stabilized by low oxygen availability and control the expression of a large number of genes, such as those involved in cell survival, angiogenesis, glycolysis, and invasion/metastasis. An important question is how cells sense oxygen levels to coordinate different biological process during hypoxia and how these processes can be regulated to reduce the benefits that cancer obtains in a hypoxic environment. Different reports evidenced as cancer cells under a hypoxia condition activate survival pathways, DNA damage repair pathways, and developmental pathways, decreasing the efficacy of therapies. Since hypoxia is known to be a negative prognostic and predictive factor, and it is generally accepted as a major limitation for tumor control in conventional therapy resulting in a poor clinical outcome, this Special Issue will be dedicated to all those studies that will help to clarify the mechanism of hypoxia in cancer and to new potential therapeutic approaches for reducing hypoxia.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
