Renin-angiotensin system and cancer: A review

The “classical” renin-angiotensin system is known to maintain blood pressure and body fluids. However, increased understanding of its individual components and their structures and regulatory mechanisms, and the convergence and crosstalk with related pathways has resulted in the appreciation of a much more complex system. Research has shown that the renin-angiotensin system is implicated in a wide range of biological processes and diseases. This review provides an update on recent research into the structures, functions and metabolism of components of the renin-angiotensin system and its related pathways, and its role in biological processes such as angiogenesis, tumorigenesis, metastasis and cellular proliferation. The observation of the expression of the renin-angiotensin system by cancer stem cells suggests that cancer stem cells may be a novel therapeutic target by modulation of the renin-angiotensin system.