MAPK Signaling Pathway in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Biological Function and Targeted Therapy

• Published in: Cancers Vol. 14; no. 19; p. 4625
• Main Authors: Cheng, Yuxi, Chen, Juan, Shi, Yuxin, Fang, Xiaodan, Tang, Zhangui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 23.09.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Apoptosis; Binding sites; Cancer therapies; Cell cycle; Cell growth; Cellular signal transduction; Development and progression; Enzymes; Epidermal growth factor; Gene expression; Head and neck carcinoma; Health aspects; Hypoxia; Immune checkpoint; Kinases; Mammals; MAP kinase; Medical prognosis; Mitogen-activated protein kinases; Mouth cancer; Mutation; Oral carcinoma; Oral squamous cell carcinoma; Phosphorylation; Physiology; Prostate cancer; Protein kinase; Proteins; Review; Signal transduction; Squamous cell carcinoma; Transcription factors; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tumors; China; signaling pathway; oral squamous cell carcinoma; MAPK; immunotherapy
• ISSN: 2072-6694; 2072-6694
• DOI: 10.3390/cancers14194625

Oral squamous cell carcinoma accounts for 95% of human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cases. It is highly malignant and aggressive, with a poor prognosis and a 5-year survival rate of <50%. In recent years, basic and clinical studies have been performed on the role of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway in oral cancer. The MAPK signaling pathway is activated in over 50% of human oral cancer cases. Herein, we review research progress on the MAPK signaling pathway and its potential therapeutic mechanisms and discuss its molecular targeting to explore its potential as a therapeutic strategy for oral squamous cell carcinoma.