The renin-angiotensin system meets the hallmarks of cancer

Abstract

The hallmarks of cancer are described as the distinctive and complementary capacities that cells must acquire during the multistep development of becoming a cancer cell that allow them to survive, proliferate and disseminate. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) was first discovered and extensively studied in the physiological regulation of systemic arterial pressure. RAS signalling increases cell proliferation in malignancy by directly affecting tumour and stromal cells and by indirectly modulating the growth of vascular cells during angiogenesis. We aim to describe and give a general view of how the RAS is involved in several hallmarks of cancer and how this could open a window to several interesting treatments.