Autotaxin and lipid signaling pathways as anticancer targets.

Tumor progression and metastasis depend on signals in the tumor microenvironment acting on both the malignant cells and benign stroma to create an environment favorable to tumor expansion. A factor of emerging importance that acts in the tumor microenvironment is lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a small signaling molecule that not only induces the transformation of benign cells into malignant invasive tumors, but also increases tumor growth, invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis. This review examines the LPA signaling pathway, its role in selected human malignancies, and the current state of development of inhibitors targeting molecules in this pathway.