Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and its role in hepatocellular carcinoma

Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway has been identified as a key cellular pathway in embryogenesis and disease, including cancers. In recent years, more and more interacting components have been observed and their exact functions approached, thus ensuring the most complicated understanding of this pathway in normal organism development and disorders. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with a deeply understanding of this pathway, more and more genes which contribute to aberrant activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway has recently been identified and their exact roles in HCC pursued. In this review, we will focus on a mostly updated understanding of this pathway and its observed role in HCC by emphasizing the gene defects identified to promote tumorigenesis and development. © Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH 2008.