Are eIFs crucial in neuroendocrine tumorigenesis?

Introduction: Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) can develop in almost any organ, therefore they are a very heterogeneous group of tumors. One major activity in each cell is translation of mRNA to the corresponding protein, which plays an important role in cancer development. Crucial for this translation process are eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs), which are themselves regulated by the mammalian target of Rapamycin (mTOR)-pathway. Mutation or deregulated expression of eIFs influence cell growth and proliferation, contributing to carcinogenesis. The incidence of NETs has increased fivefold over the last three deca…