New Advances in Canonical Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling in Cancer

Wnt/β-catenin-mediated signaling is a key pathway regulating tissue growth and development, and tumorigenesis, and has received increasing attention in recent years. In addition to participating in healthy tissue and organ development, ectopic activation of the pathway can cause a variety of tumors and other pathologies. The pathway plays a critical role in many processes such as proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, migration, invasion, epithelial–mesenchymal transition and cancer cell stemness. The importance of the Wnt signal is self-evident. This review describes the underlying mechanism of Wnt signaling pathway and highlights the latest findings on the relationship between Wnt signaling pathway and tumorigenesis. In addition, the potential relationship between miRNAs and Wnt signaling is presented. Furthermore, we discuss the intrinsic link between Wnt signaling and cancer cell stemness, which shed light on the malignant progression of tumor cells. Finally, cancer treatment strategies based on the canonical Wnt signaling pathway are summarized, hoping to help clinical development.