Gastrin-Releasing Peptide Receptor Targeting in Cancer Treatment: Emerging Signaling Networks and Therapeutic Applications.

Growth factors of the bombesin/gastrin releasing peptide (BN/GRP) family play a critical role in proliferation and progression of many malignancies. Many inhibitors targeting GRP signalling have been developed and tested as anticancer compounds showing promising preclinical and early phase clinical results. In this review we will discuss the molecular signalling, the expression and the functional role of BN/GRP-GRPR in different cancer models and will focus on the available strategies to target BN/GRP-GRPR in cancer treatment as well as in tumour diagnosis and follow up.