NOTCH signalinio kelio ir ginekologinių piktybinių navikų sąsaja.

THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE NOTCH SIGNALING PATHWAY AND GYNAECOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES: Background. The body's cell behaviour is controlled by various signalling pathways, one of which is NOTCH. It has been found that a partial loss of the NOTCH function or abnormal strengthening of NOTCH signalling are related to various human diseases and developmental disorders. Materials and methods. PubMed was the main source of information for this paper. Results. The paper overviews the association between oncologic diseases and the participants of the NOTCH signalling pathway. In cancerogenesis, the NOTCH signalling pathway can act as a tumour suppressor or an oncogene. The mechanisms of such an effect are yet unknown. The NOTCH signalling pathway is an object of active research because its modulation by pharmacological and genetic approaches could be helpful in discovering new treatment methods of tumours. In this review more attention is paid to gynaecological malignancies, especially to uterine cancer. Conclusions. The findings of recently published studies show that the NOTCH signalling pathway is definitely important for the development of uterine cancer, therefore its components can be potential prognostic biomarkers and molecular therapeutic targets. However, further studies in this field are needed in order to clarify the role of the components of the NOTCH signalling pathway and their interaction with participants of other signalling pathways, which can be important in the development and progression of uterine cancer as well. Keywords: NOTCH signalling pathway, cancer, gynaecological malignancies.