Integrins are vital surface adhesion receptors that mediate interactions between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cells and are essential for cell migration and the maintenance of tissue homeostasis. Aberrant integrin activation promotes initial tumor formation, growth, and metastasis. Recently, many lines of evidence have indicated that integrins are highly expressed in numerous cancer types and have documented many functions of integrins in tumorigenesis. Thus, integrins have emerged as attractive targets for the development of cancer therapeutics. In this review, we discuss the underlying molecular mechanisms by which integrins contribute to most of the hallmarks of cancer. We focus on recent progress on integrin regulators, binding proteins, and downstream effectors. We highlight the role of integrins in regulating tumor metastasis, immune evasion, metabolic reprogramming, and other hallmarks of cancer. In addition, integrin-targeted immunotherapy and other integrin inhibitors used in preclinical and clinical studies are summarized.

Integrin

Cancer hallmarks

Molecular mechanisms

Targeted therapies

Immunotherapies

adrenocortical carcinoma

breast invasive carcinoma

cervical squamous cell carcinoma

lymphoid neoplasm diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

epidermal growth factor

glioblastoma multiforme

head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

integrin cytoplasmic domain-associated protein 1

insulin-like growth factor-1

krüppel-like factor 4

kidney renal papillary cell carcinoma

kidney renal clear cell carcinoma

lung squamous cell carcinoma

liver hepatocellular carcinoma

brain lower grade glioma

acute Myeloid Leukemia

© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.