Underexpression of corticotropin-releasing-hormone-receptor-2 (CRHR2) in CRC, promotes tumor survival, growth and Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), in vitro and in vivo.
Suppression of neovascularization through reduction of vascular endothelial growth factor and inhibition of tumor cell cycling is modulated mainly through activation of CRFR2.
The high incidence of CRF(1) or CRF(2) receptors in selected human tumors suggests that unlabeled CRF agonists may be evaluated as inhibitors of tumor cell proliferation in cancer therapy, and radiolabeled CRF analogs may be used for cancer diagnosis and/or radiotherapy.