Short communication | Hallmarks of Cancer; A Summarized Overview of Sustained Proliferative Signalling Component.

Over the past fifty years, the field of cancer research has witnessed enormous growth and a wealth of knowledge gain, as it remains to be among the primary causes of death across the globe. As a result, significant advancement in cancer therapy has been achieved, particularly in the ones that target specific hallmarks in the process of tumor formation. These hallmarks are renowned as functional competences that enable malignant cells to subsist, grow and spread within the human body. Twenty-one years ago, six main traits were identified, to which two additions were made eleven years later. These are identified as self-sufficiency in growth signals, insensitivity to anti-growth signals, evasion of programmed cell death, limitless replicative potential, sustained angiogenesis, tissue invasion and metastasis, deregulating cellular energetics and avoiding immune destruction. Two supporting characteristics believed to empower the attainment of these hallmarks were also tagged, being instability and mutation of the gene and inflammation fostered by the malignant growth. This paper will highlight the main processes underpinning the self-sufficiency in growth signalling component. It will briefly discuss the process behind cell signaling and mechanisms by which tumors evade the immune system. Following that, it will delve into the therapeutic modality targeting this component and give some current illustrations of how therapies targeting this hallmark are being utilized. Keywords: Cancer hallmarks, cell signaling, sustained proliferative signaling, EGFR antagonists.