title: Differentiation therapy for solid tumors.
abstract: Differentiation therapy for tumors refers to treating malignant tumors via the induction of cell differentiation. The best characterized clinical application of differentiation therapy is the use of all-trans retinoic acid in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), which markedly improved the outcome of this disease. Unlike the situation with APL, the development of differentiation therapy for solid tumors is far from satisfactory. To date, no differentiation-inducing agents have been demonstrated to exert a curative effect on solid tumors. However, over the past decade progress in understanding the differentiation pathways and the development of differentiation-inducing agents might shed new light on the differentiation therapy for solid tumors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Wen Ping
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wei Fen
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy / Q000379:methods; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: differentiation therapy; epigenetics; neoplastic stem cell; solid tumor; transcription factor