ReviewEXCLI journal2026
TGF-beta inhibitors in cancer therapy: a review of the TGF-beta signal transduction pathway and current developments.
Review in EXCLI journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) belongs to a family of structurally and functionally related cytokines that play essential roles in embryonic development, tissue homeostasis, and cell fate regulation. Dysregulation of TGF-β signaling contributes to a broad spectrum of diseases, including cancer, fibrosis, and immune disorders. In cancer, TGF-β exhibits a context-dependent dual role, functioning as a tumor suppressor during early stages while promoting invasion, metastasis, escape from immune surveillance, and tumor microenvironment remodeling in advanced-stage cancer through effects on stromal cells, extracellular matrix deposition, and angiogenesis. This functional duality makes therapeutic targeting both attractive and challenging. Although current strategies mainly focus on ligand neutralization or receptor kinase inhibition, accumulating evidence indicates that TGF-β activity is also regulated beyond the receptor level, including receptor trafficking, co-receptor function, nucleocytoplasmic shuttling, indirect pathway modulation, and epigenetic regulation. In this review, we emphasize regulatory mechanisms that can be modulated by existing drugs, clinical candidates, or experimentally tractable compounds, rather than providing an exhaustive overview of the broader regulatory landscape of TGF-β signaling. We further highlight opportunities for drug repurposing and discuss how synergistic combination strategies may improve therapeutic efficacy and overcome resistance in TGF-β-driven cancers, supporting a broader therapeutic framework beyond canonical receptor inhibition. See also the graphical abstract(Fig. 1).
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.