Dr. Cohen Addresses the Role of the Hedgehog Pathway

Deirdre J. Cohen, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Clinical Cancer Center, NYU Medical Oncology Associates, at the Cancer Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center, discusses the normal role of the hedgehog signaling pathway and potential cancers that the upregulation of the pathway may be implicated in.

The hedgehog pathway plays an important role in embryogenesis development, tissue repair, and stem cell maintenance. Upregulation of the pathway can lead to the development of gastric cancers, epithelial malignancies, basal cell carcinoma, and medulloblastoma — a disease in which it was first implicated.