Figure 1

Cellular signaling pathways play a key role in the regulatory network that controls growth and proliferation in normal cells. Dysregulation of these pathways can drive cancer progression via uncontrolled proliferation, evasion of apoptosis, local invasion, and more. This session will feature a review of the important physiology that regulates cellular signaling in normal cells. We will then discuss ways in which these pathways become dysregulated and how dependence on these pathways may be exploited in cancer therapy. We will focus our discussion on 4 specific pathways: phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K), mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK), Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) and Wnt.