For decades, retinoids and their synthetic derivatives have been well established anticancer treatments due to their ability to regulate cell growth and induce cell differentiation and apoptosis. Many studies have reported the promising role of retinoids in attaining better outcomes for adult or pediatric patients suffering from several types of cancer, especially acute myeloid leukemia and neuroblastoma. However, even this promising differentiation therapy has some limitations: retinoid toxicity and intrinsic or acquired resistance have been observed in many patients. Therefore, the identification of molecular markers that predict the therapeutic response to retinoid treatment is undoubtedly important for retinoid use in clinical practice. The purpose of this review is to summarize the current knowledge on candidate markers, including both genetic alterations and protein markers, for retinoid resistance and sensitivity in human malignancies.
Keywords: Acute myeloid leukemia; Breast carcinoma; Cell differentiation; Neuroblastoma; Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; Predictive biomarkers; Retinoid resistance; Retinoid sensitivity; Retinoids.