Transcription factors as master regulator for cancer stemness: remove milk from fox?

Some cancers display a cellular hierarchy of varying differentiation states, as if they phenocopy the normal organ development processes. Accumulating evidence suggests that the molecular signals that control carcinogenesis, at least partially, overlap with those involved in organogenesis. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) at the apex of cellular hierarchy are likely one, if not the only, critical therapeutic target in cancers. The proto-oncogene FOXM1 is a transcription factor (TF) defined as a master regulator for a broad array of genes required for CSCs and therefore FOXM1 is overexpressed in various cancers. In general, therapeutic development for TFs is a challenging task. Recently, on the other hand, novel insight has been brought by the discovery of a protein complex of FOXM1 with the mitotic kinase MELK in CSCs in brain cancers, as this protein complex appears to be cancer-specific. This editorial describes FOXM1 signaling in cancers and its potential therapeutic development.