Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition-Inducing Factors Involved in the Progression of Lung Cancers

Although there have been advances in cancer therapy and surgical improvement, lung cancer has the lowest survival rate (19%) at all stages. This is because most patients are diagnosed with concurrent metastasis, which occurs due to numerous related reasons. Especially, lung cancer is one of the most common and malignant cancers in the world. Although there are advanced therapeutic strategies, lung cancer remains one of the main causes of cancer death. Recent work has proposed that epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is the main cause of metastasis in most cases of human cancers including lung cancer. EMT involves the conversion of epithelial cells, wherein the cells lose their epithelial abilities and become mesenchymal cells involved in embryonic development, such as gastrulation and neural crest formation. In addition, recent research has indicated that EMT contributes to altering the cancer cells into cancer stem cells (CSCs). Although EMT is important in the developmental stages, this process also activates lung cancer progression, including complicated and diverse signaling pathways. Despite the numerous investigations on signaling pathways involved in the progression of lung cancer, this malignancy is considered critical for treatment. EMT in lung cancer involves many transcription factors and inducers, for example, Snail, TWIST, and ZEB are the master regulators of EMT. EMT-related factors and signaling pathways are involved in the progression of lung cancer, proposing new approaches to lung cancer therapy. In the current review, we highlight the signaling pathways implicated in lung cancer and elucidate the correlation of these pathways, indicating new insights to treat lung cancer and other malignancies.