Hypoxia-induced signaling and its relevance in discovering biomarkers for cancer research

Abstract

Hypoxia is a condition of progressive depletion of cellular oxygen, encompassing a variety of factors that have a sensitive interplay with the nucleus, DNA, and protein machinery. The relevance of hypoxia with cancer biology has been increasingly observed in recent years; however, currently there are major clinical obstacles in understanding the mechanism of tumor progression and identifying the correct therapy. This review sheds light on the most recent findings on hypoxia-induced factors that are involved in cancer progression, and relates them to a network of signals that are co-involved in tumor growth. In this perspective, this review elaborates on unanswered key questions with regard to regulation and modulation pathways related to oxygen-deprived conditions during cancer development, including a brief view of specific microRNA factors in hypoxia. The focus of this review is on the vast landscape of components that are involved in tumor progression, including identification of potential targets and pathways that can play a pivotal role in identifying clinical and diagnostic methods, with hypoxia as a starting point. Defining novel and potential cell cycle factors is of significant importance, particularly given the increasing emergence of personalized medicine.