WNT-β-catenin signaling pathway and its relationship with cancer

The Wnt-beta-catenin signaling pathway plays a crucial role in the regulation, differentiation, proliferation and cellular death processes; consequently, alterations in this pathway are involved in numerous abnormalities of development, growth and homeostasis in animal organisms. Wnt proteins include a numerous family of secretion glycoproteins that link to Frizzled receptors and low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein in order to stabilize the critical beta-catenin protein and to initiate an intricate signaling cascade, which is related to multiple nucleocytoplasmic processes. Alterations in the canonical Wnt-beta-catenin signaling pathway have been associated with variations in a number of proteins participating in this route or with activation/inactivation of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, explaining different processes of tumorigenesis, in addition to a number of malformations and human diseases. This review describes the relations between the Wnt-beta-catenin signaling pathway with different neoplastic processes as well as its application in the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer.