Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2-2021
Abstract
Uveal melanoma is the most common intraocular cancer in adults and arises from the transformation of melanocytes in the uveal tract. While treatment of the primary tumor is often effective, 36–50% of patients develop metastatic disease primarily to the liver. While various strategies have been used to treat the metastatic disease, there remain no effective treatments that improve survival. Significant insight has been gained into the pathways that are altered in uveal melanoma, with mutually exclusive activating mutations in the GNAQ and GNA11 genes being found in over 90% of patients. These genes encode the alpha subunits of the hetetrotrimeric G proteins, Gq and G11, and mutations result in activation of several important signaling pathways, including phospholipase C and activation of the transcription factor YAP. In this review, we discuss current efforts to target various signaling pathways in the treatment of uveal melanoma including recent efforts to target Gq and G11 in mouse models. While selective targeting of Gq and G11 provides a potential therapeutic strategy to treat uveal melanoma, it is evident that improved inhibitors and methods of delivery are needed.
Recommended Citation
Lapadula, Dominic and Benovic, Jeffrey L, "Targeting oncogenic gαq/11 in uveal melanoma" (2021). Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers. Paper 200.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/bmpfp/200
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Language
English
Comments
This article is the author’s final published version in Cancers, Volume 13, Issue 24, December 2021, Article number 6195.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13246195.
Copyright © Lapadula and Benovic.
Publication made possible in part by support from the Jefferson Open Access Fund