ABSTRACT
The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway plays a crucial role in embryo development of drosophila and a variety of vertebrate including humans,via regulating cell differentiation and proliferation.Mutation of Hh and aberrant activation or overexpression of the secreted Hh signaling molecules may induce cancer.Recent studies show that Hh signaling is associatied with invasion and metastasis in multiple types of malignant tumours.The machanisms are correlated with maintaining of cancer stem cells,epithelial-mesenchymal transition ( EMT),tumor cell autocrine/paracrine signaling and promotion of tumor angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis.The study of mechanisms how Hh signaling promotes cancer metastasis,will provide new directions for molecular diagnosis,prognosis and molecular targeted therapy of cancer.