E2F transcription factors and digestive system malignancies: How much do we know?

Figure 1 Mammalian E2F family of transcription factors. In the context of digestive system malignancies, E2F1 may exhibit a tumor-suppressing role in colorectal, gastric and esophageal adenocarcinoma, as well as in hepatocellular carcinoma. On the contrary, in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and esophageal squamous carcinoma a tumor-promoting role has been shown. A tumor-promoting role is demonstrated for E2F4 in colorectal, gastric and liver carcinogenesis. E2F8 may contribute to hepatocarcinogenesis, as it has been shown to be strongly upregulated in human hepatocellular carcinoma. DBD: DNA binding domain; LZ: Leucine zipper; MB: Marked box.