The receptor tyrosine kinases: role in cancer progression.

The last two decades have witnessed significant progress in the understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying tumor growth and metastasis. Receptor tyrosine kinases play a central role in cell proliferation and differentiation, cell survival, cell motility, invasion, and angiogenesis, all of which contribute to tumor progression. Alterations at the level of the receptor and its ligand lead to the activation of a number of signaling pathways, each of which may contribute to cancer progression. The dissection of the molecular changes associated with neoplastic growth have provided pharmaceutical companies with a range of targets for drug intervention. This article highlights the deregulation of receptor tyrosine kinases in human cancers and their involvement in metastasis.