Figure 5
From: Functional aspects of primary cilia in signaling, cell cycle and tumorigenesis
Model of cilia and cancer. We propose a number of pathways that can lead to cilia-dependent and cilia-independent tumor formation. The left pathway describes the oncogenic events that must follow after cilia have been lost (1) and a benign neoplasm has been formed; accumulation of genetic lesions (2) that desensitize cells to the microenvironment or CIN (3) to drive further cancer progression. Alternatively, the right pathway indicates a scenario where cilia are not involved in the initial transformation event (4). Depending on the underlying oncogenic mechanism, cells will further develop into a cilia-independent cancer (5), or will select for cilia retention in cilia-dependent cancer types (6).