Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor Signaling in Cancer Biology and Treatment

Growth factor signaling via receptor tyrosine kinases plays a central role in initiating and maintaining a malignant phenotype. Fibroblast growth factors (FGF) and their receptor family (FGFR1-4) are key players in various human solid and hematological tumors and have been linked to tumor cell proliferation, resistance to chemotherapy and apoptosis, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. FGFRs are commonly activated by genomic alterations or mutations and various approaches to targeted inhibition have been developed. The deeper understanding of the underlying signal transduction mechanisms has generated novel targeted therapy approaches like ligand-traps, receptor-specific antibodies or small molecule kinase inhibitors that are currently undergoing preclinical and clinical development for the treatment of human cancers.