Signaling Pathways Involved in 5-FU Drug Resistance in Cancer

Abstract

Anti-metabolite drugs prevent the synthesis of essential cell growth compounds. 5-fluorouracil is used as an anti-metabolic drug in various cancers in the first stage of treatment. Unfortunately, in some cancers, 5-fluorouracil has low effectiveness because of its drug resistance. Studies have shown that drug resistance to 5-fluorouracil is due to the activation of specific signaling pathways and increased expressions of enzymes involved in drug metabolites. However, when 5-fluorouracil is used in combination with other drugs, the sensitivity of cancer cells to 5-fluorouracil increases, and the effect of drug resistance is reversed. This study discusses how the function of 5-fluorouracil in JAK/STAT, Wnt, Notch, NF-κB, and hedgehogs in some cancers.

Keywords:

• 5-fluorouracil
• JAK/STAT pathway
• Wnt pathway
• Notch pathway
• NF-κB pathway
• Hedgehog pathway

Acknowledgments

A sincere thank you to Naser Danesh Pouya for his diligent proofreading of this study.

Author contributions

Fahima Danesh Pouya and Yousef Rasmi designed the study; Fahima Danesh Pouya wrote and revised the manuscript draft; Yousef Rasmi and Mohadeseh Nemati critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.