RÉSUMÉ
Lysine acetyltransferase 5 (KAT5), a member of the MYST family, can participate in cellular processes such as transcription, DNA repair, differentiation and signal transduction by acetylating different substrates. The role of KAT5 cannot be replaced by other MYST family members, and the knockout of KAT5 can directly lead to apoptosis, indicating that KAT5 may be located in the upstream of physiological signaling pathways in cells and play an extremely important and unique role. Therefore, the changes in KAT5 expression are very likely to lead to the occurrence and development of tumors. Previous studies have found that KAT5 is downregulated in breast cancer, melanoma, and lung cancer, and is considered a tumor suppressor in these tumors. However, in recent years, studies have found that KAT5 can be either highly or lowly expressed in breast cancer, liver cancer, melanoma, prostate cancer, lung cancer and other tumors. On the premise of high KAT5 expression, KAT5 can play a tumor-promoting role. While on the premise of low KAT5 expression, KAT5 can also play as a tumor suppressor. With further decrease of KAT5 expression, its tumor suppressive effect is weakened, which may lead to the occurrence and development of tumors. In addition, KAT5 has also been found to be differentially expressed in osteosarcoma, thyroid cancer, glioblastoma, colorectal cancer and other tumors, and the differential expression of KAT5 is closely related to the proliferation, metastasis, apoptosis, drug and radiotherapy resistance of tumor cells. Therefore, KAT5 is one of the potential tumor therapeutic targets. Here, we summarize the expression of KAT5 in tumors and the tumor-suppressing or tumor-promoting signaling pathways involved in the corresponding expression in recent years, hoping to provide new inspiration and reference for tumor treatment and prognosis monitoring.