RESUMO
Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) is a major non-transmembrane protein tyrosinephosphatase and plays an important role in signaling pathway. PTP1B also acts as an essential regulatorin numerous physiological processes and it has a vital role in cell growth, differentiation, metabolism,migration, gene transcription and apoptosis through modulating intracellular tyrosine phosphorylation.Evidence has demonstrated that PTP1B is associated with tumor. Although many conflicting resultssuggested that PTP1B has two contradictory effects (supressing or promoting ) on tumor, the real effectdepends on the substrate involved and the cellular context. This review describes different mechanismsof PTP1B in tumorigenesis and progression in breast cancer, colon cancer, hepatic carcinoma, lymphoma,ovarian cancer, esophageal cancer, prostate cancer and gastric cancer. These results further theunderstanding of PTP1B function and highlight the great prospective of PTP1B inhibitors in tumor therapy. Copyright© 2011 by TUMOR.