Cell polarity and oncogenesis: common mutations contribute to altered cellular polarity and promote malignancy

Cancerous tumors are the result of uncontrolled growth of cells. A growing body of evidence points to cancer stem cells as being the genesis of this uncontrolled growth. Cancer stem cells appear to show dramatic alterations in cellular function when compared to their benign counterparts. Among these alterations are aberrant cell polarity and deviation in asymmetric and symmetric cellular division. Aberrations in cell polarity and orientation of mitotic spindle can compromise the fidelity of asymmetric cellular division and lead to improper cellular differentiation and an overgrowth of immature cancerous cells stem cells. Over the last several decades there has been a rapid acquisition of knowledge of the wide array of mutations in cancer. While the myriad of genetic mutations seemingly have little in common with each other, a thorough review of the literature uncovers that the most widely studied mutations have a mutual effect on altering cell polarity. This article summarizes how mutations of elements of some of the most important signalling pathways can lead to altered polarity and promote oncogenesis.