Tumor heterogeneity results in differential response to therapy due to the existence of plastic tumor cells, called cancer stem cells (CSCs), which exhibit the property of resistance to therapy, invasion and metastasis. RhoC (Ras homolog gene family member C) has been widely reported to regulate actin organization. It has been shown to impact the motility of cancer cells, resultantly affecting invasion and metastasis, and has contributed to carcinoma progression of the breast, pancreas, lung, ovaries and cervix, among several others. The most interesting finding has been its indispensable role in metastasis. These observations suggest that RhoC imparts the plasticity required by tumor cells to exhibit such diverse functions based on microenvironmental cues.
This review throws light on how RhoC, which is capable of modulating various phenotypes may be the apt core signaling candidate regulating disease progression.
Additionally, mice studies show that RhoC is not essential for embryogenesis, giving scope for its development as a possible therapeutic target. This review thus stresses on the need to understand the protein and its functioning in greater detail to enable its development as a stem cell marker and a possible therapeutic target.
Click here to access all of the reviews published to date in Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research.
