The NF-κB activation pathways, emerging molecular targets for cancer prevention and therapy

Importance of the field: Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is activated by a variety of cancer-promoting agents. The reciprocal activation between NF-κB and inflammatory cytokines makes NF-κB important for inflammation-associated cancer development. Both the constitutive and anticancer therapeutic-induced NF-κB activation blunts the anticancer activities of the therapy. Elucidating the roles of NF-κB in cancer facilitates developing approaches for cancer prevention and therapy.Areas covered in this review: By searching PubMed, we summarize the progress of studies on NF-κB in carcinogenesis and cancer cells' drug resistance in recent 10 years.What the reader will gain: The mechanisms by which NF-κB activation pathways are activated; the roles and mechanisms of NF-κB in cell survival and proliferation, and in carcinogenesis and cancer cells' response to therapy; recent development of NF-κB-modulating means and their application in cancer prevention and therapy.Take home message: NF-κB is involved in cancer development, modulating NF-κB activation pathways has important implications in cancer prevention and therapy. Due to the complexity of NF-κB roles in different cancers, careful evaluation of NF-κB's in each cancer type is crucial in this regard. More cancer cell-specific NF-κB inhibiting means are desired for improving anticancer efficacy and reducing systemic toxicity.