ArticleOncotarget2017
Itraconazole exerts its anti-melanoma effect by suppressing Hedgehog, Wnt, and PI3K/mTOR signaling pathways.
Article in Oncotarget, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 73 citations in OpenAlex.
- From fungus fighter to cancer slayer: itraconazole as a multifaceted candidate for drug-resistant prostate cancer.Prostate cancer and prostatic diseases · 2026Review
- Cancer Therapy Using Antiparasitic Medications Guided by Acupuncture Meridian Assessment: A Case Series of Six Patients.Integrative medicine (Encinitas, Calif.) · 2026Article
- Article
- Itraconazole as a repurposed anti-cancer agent: focusing on synthesis, mechanisms of action and therapeutic insights.RSC advances · 2026Review
- Itraconazole in the Treatment of Aberrantly Active Hedgehog and/or PI3K Recurrent Ovarian Cancer.Cancers · 2026Article
- Repurposing Itraconazole in Combination with Chemotherapy and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor for Cancer.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- GLI3 in cancer: a context-dependent regulator with diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic potential.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Ketamine and dodecyl maltoside synergy as a potential topical therapeutic approach for melanoma.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Review
- Potential Benefits of Adding Alendronate, Celecoxib, Itraconazole, Ramelteon, and Simvastatin to Endometrial Cancer Treatment: The EC5 Regimen.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Article
- The association of azole antifungals with overall survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors.The oncologist · 2025Article
- The O-glycosyltransferase C1GALT1 promotes EWSR1::FLI1 expression and is a therapeutic target for Ewing sarcoma.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Itraconazole promotes melanoma cells apoptosis via inhibiting hedgehog signaling pathway-mediated autophagy.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Itraconazole inhibits the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to induce tumor-associated macrophages polarization to enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy in endometrial cancer.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Review
- Article
- Non-self glycan structures as possible modulators of cancer progression: would polysaccharides from Cryptococcus spp. impact this phenomenon?Brazilian journal of microbiology : [publication of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology] · 2023Review
- Repurposing antifungal drugs for cancer therapy.Journal of advanced research · 2023Review
- Targeting of Notch, IL-1, and leptin has therapeutic potential in xenograft colorectal cancer.Turkish journal of biology = Turk biyoloji dergisi · 2023Article
- Zebrafish in dermatology: a comprehensive review of their role in investigating abnormal skin pigmentation mechanisms.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Malignant melanoma is the deadliest form of all skin cancers. Itraconazole, a commonly used systemic antifungal drug, has been tested for its anti-tumor effects on basal cell carcinoma, prostate cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. Whether itraconazole has any specific anti-tumor effect on melanoma remains unknown. However, the goal of this study is to investigate the effect of itraconazole on melanoma and to reveal some details of its underlying mechanism. In the in vivo xenograft mouse model, we find that itraconazole can inhibit melanoma growth and extend the survival of melanoma xenograft mice, compared to non-itraconazole-treated mice. Also, itraconazole can significantly inhibit cell proliferation, as demonstrated by Ki-67 staining in itraconazole-treated tumor tissues. In in vitro, we show that itraconazole inhibits the proliferation and colony formation of both SK-MEL-28 and A375 human melanoma cells. Moreover, we demonstrate that itraconazole significantly down-regulates Gli-1, Gli-2, Wnt3A, β-catenin and cyclin D1, while it up-regulates Gli-3 and Axin-1, indicating potent inhibitory effects of itraconazole on Hedgehog (Hh) and Wnt signaling pathways. Furthermore, itraconazole significantly suppresses the PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway - indicated by the down-regulated phosphorylation of p70S6K, 4E-BP1 and AKT - but has no effect on the phosphorylation of MEK or ERK. Our data suggest that itraconazole inhibits melanoma growth through an interacting regulatory network that includes Hh, Wnt, and PI3K/mTOR signaling pathways. These results suggest that this agent has several potent anti-melanoma features and may be useful in the synergesis of other anti-cancer drugs via blockage of the Hh, Wnt and PI3K/mTOR signaling pathways.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.