Role of the m6A demethylase ALKBH5 in gastrointestinal tract cancer (Review)

N-6-methyladenosine (m(6)A) is one of the most universal, abundant and conserved types of internal post-transcriptional modifications in eukaryotic RNA, and is involved in nuclear RNA export, RNA splicing, mRNA stability, gene expression, microRNA biogenesis and long non-coding RNA metabolism. AlkB homologue 5 (ALKBH5) acts as a m(6)A demethylase to regulate a wide variety of biological processes closely associated with tumour progression, tumour metastasis, tumour immunity and tumour drug resistance. ALKBH5 serves a crucial role in human digestive system tumours, mainly through post-transcriptional regulation of m(6)A modification. The present review discusses progress in the study of the m(6)A demethylase ALKBH5 in gastrointestinal tract cancer, summarizes the potential molecular mechanisms of ALKBH5 dysregulation in gastrointestinal tract cancer, and discusses the significance of ALKBH5-targeted therapy, which may provide novel ideas for future clinical prognosis prediction, biomarker identification and precise treatment.