Purpose: Radiation therapy (RT) is a commonly used modality to treat human cancer. However, dose-limiting toxicity and resistance are major problems to improving treatment efficacy. Increasing evidence has pointed to the critical role of the tumor microenvironment and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM), specifically via beta1 integrins, in modifying response to therapy, including radiation. beta1 integrins have been implicated in several key processes in malignant progression and metastasis, and more recently in mediating resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy and radiation. Evidence is mounting that beta1 integrins mediate essential survival signals post-IR, through both canonical and non-canonical integrin signaling pathways that make it a highly promising therapeutic target for several solid malignancies.
Conclusions: In this mini-review article, we briefly summarize the most recent emerging findings concerning beta1 integrin and radiation survival that indicate the promise of beta1 integrin inhibitory agents as radiosensitizers.