Mining the Wnt pathway for cancer therapeutics

Aberrant activation of the Wnt pathway is implicated in driving the formation of various human cancers, particularly those of the digestive tract. Inhibition of aberrant Wnt pathway activity in cancer cell lines efficiently blocks their growth, highlighting the great potential of therapeutics designed to achieve this in cancer patients. Here we provide an overview of the promise and pitfalls of current drug development strategies striving to inhibit the Wnt pathway and present new opportunities for therapeutic intervention.