Onorato, A.; Guida, E.; Colopi, A.; Dolci, S.; Grimaldi, P. RAS/Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Signaling Pathway in Testicular Germ Cell Tumors. Life2024, 14, 327.
Onorato, A.; Guida, E.; Colopi, A.; Dolci, S.; Grimaldi, P. RAS/Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Signaling Pathway in Testicular Germ Cell Tumors. Life 2024, 14, 327.
Onorato, A.; Guida, E.; Colopi, A.; Dolci, S.; Grimaldi, P. RAS/Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Signaling Pathway in Testicular Germ Cell Tumors. Life2024, 14, 327.
Onorato, A.; Guida, E.; Colopi, A.; Dolci, S.; Grimaldi, P. RAS/Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Signaling Pathway in Testicular Germ Cell Tumors. Life 2024, 14, 327.
Abstract
The receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) pathway and the downstream related Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) cascades are crucial signal transduction pathways that preside over various cellular processes, including proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and responses to stressors. They are well described in solid malignancies, where many of the involved factors are used as prognostic molecular markers or targets for precision therapy. Germ cell tumors (GCTs) are relatively rare. However, they are the most diagnosed malignancies occurring in the testis (TGCT) among men aged between 15 and 40 years. Despite high aneuploidy and a paucity of somatic mutations, several genomic and transcriptomic assays have identified few significantly mutated somatic genes, primarily KIT and K-RAS, so affecting, at various levels, the KIT–RAS–RAF–MEK–ERK cascade. This review focuses on the most recent investigations about this signaling pathway in TGCTs concerning their development, natural history, response to standard chemotherapy protocols (i.e., cisplatin-based), and on the efforts being made to identify targetable markers for possible precision medicine approaches.
Keywords
Testicular Germ Cell Tumors (TGCT); KIT; MAPK; cancer
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Oncology and Oncogenics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
