FOX(M1) News-It Is Cancer

FOXM1 is an oncogenic transcription factor of the Forkhead family and it has a well-defined role in cell proliferation and cell-cycle progression. Expression of FOXM1 is excluded in quiescent or differentiated cells, but its level is highly elevated in proliferating and malignant cells. Overexpression of FOXM1 has been reported in more than 20 types of human cancer. In recent years, FOXM1 has been implicated in diverse cellular processes and also a growing body of experimental data has underlined the relevance of FOXM1 in tumorigenesis. Although FOXM1 is under the control of three major tumor suppressors (RB, p53, and p19(ARF)), it is still active in the majority of human cancers. The oncogenic potential of FOXM1 is mainly based on its ability to transcriptionally activate genes that are involved in different facets of cancer development. In this review, the contribution of FOXM1 to each of the hallmarks of cancer will be summarized and discussed. Mol Cancer Ther; 12(3); 245-54. (C)2012 AACR.