Downregulation of Notch Signaling Pathway as an Effective Chemosensitizer for Cancer Treatment.

Abstract

Despite remarkable progress in cancer treatment, development of drug resistance is still a big burden to eliminate all tumor cells and a mean cause for tumor recurrence. Recent studies have been revealed the contribution of many signaling pathways in acquisition of resistance to chemotherapy. Because of its potential in maintaining the balance between cell proliferation and apoptosis, Notch signaling pathway has mean relevance to various aspects of cancer biology, from cancer stem cells to tumor immunity to multidrug resistance. Therefore, Notch signaling pathway is an attractive target for cancer therapy because targeting Notch signaling could overcome multi drug resistance (MDR). This article will provide a brief overview of the published evidences in support of Notch targeting in reverting multidrug resistance as a safer and novel approach for the improvement of tumor treatment.