Abstract
Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 plays a key role not only in regulating a variety of biological properties, including survival, proliferation, and metastasis of cancer cells, but also in modifying the tumor microenvironment to promote angiogenesis and immunosuppression, rendering STAT3 a valuable target in cancer. In this review, we discuss the rationale for targeting STAT3 by presenting a succinct overview of STAT3 signaling, outlining an update concerning approaches to directly or indirectly targeting the role of this transcription factor, and highlighting challenges facing therapeutic strategies for inhibiting STAT3 in malignancies. Finally, we also discuss several state-of-the-art approaches for targeting oncogenic STAT3 signaling.
Keywords
Cancer, STAT3, Signaling, Immunotherapy, Combination, YHO-1701