Functional roles and clinical potential of SOX1 in cancer as a biomarker and therapeutic target

Sep 22, 2026

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Malignant neoplastic diseases create a major global health burden. As highly heterogeneous, complex disorders, effective cancer management requires coordinated efforts across multiple levels. SOX1, a transcription factor family member, contributes to embryonic neurogenesis and also supports tumor initiation and progression through distinct mechanisms. In epithelial cancers, its tumor-suppressive effects often involve antagonizing the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and suppressing targets such as c-MYC and Cyclin D1. This review synthesizes SOX1 gene functions, oncogenic signaling roles regulated by epigenetics, and evaluates SOX1 as a biomarker and therapeutic target for diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and related complications, noting challenges from functional heterogeneity and highlighting upstream/downstream modulation and methylation-based assays for early detection.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages29

Reading Time1 h 13 min

AccessFree to download

1 Introduction

Table 1 Role of SOX1 in human malignancies

Zhou et al. Discover Oncology (2026) 17:703 [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12672-026-04431-4](https://doi.org/10.1007/s12672-026-04431-4) Discover Oncology REVIEW Open Access Functional roles and clinical potential of SOX1 in cancer as a biomarker and therapeutic target Xianghua Zhou1*, Jiaqi Wang1, Fanfan Yang1, Yufan Gao1 and Chunxiao Hou1 *Correspondence: Xianghua Zhou [zhou13484104106@163.com](zhou13484104106@163.com)[ ](zhou13484104106@163.com)1Haining People’s Hospital (Haining Branch, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University), Haining, Zhejiang Province, China Abstract Malignant neoplastic diseases currently constitute a substantial global health burden. As a class of highly pathologically heterogeneous and complex disorders, addressing malignant tumors necessitates multifaceted efforts across various levels. SOX1, a member of the SOX transcription factor family B subgroup, plays a pivotal role in transcriptional activation during embryonic neurogenesis. Growing evidence indicates that SOX1 also contributes to tumor initiation and progression through multiple mechanisms. While SOX1 exhibits context-dependent functions, its tumorsuppressive action in epithelial cancers frequently involves direct antagonism of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and downregulation of targets like c-MYC and Cyclin D1 . This review synthesizes current insights into the gene function of SOX1 and its roles within oncogenic signaling pathways, which are frequently subject to regulation by epigenetic modifications. The authors further evaluate the potential of SOX1 asa biomarker and therapeutic target in cancer diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and associated complications. Although the functional heterogeneity of SOX1 presents challenges for clinical application, therapeutic modulation of its upstream and downstream pathways, as well as methylation-based assays for early detection, remain clinically promising. Keywords SOX1, Tumorigenesis, DNA methylation, Wnt/β-catenin signaling, Biomarker 1 Introduction With the marked demographic shift toward an aging global population, malignant neoplasms have become the first or second leading cause of death in most countries [1]. This situation presents a formidable challenge to the vision of extending life expectancy and improving health outcomes across both urban and rural populations. The establishment of sustainable cancer-control platforms—particularly those that ensure adequate access to prevention and treatment services in transitioning countries—is essential for global cancer governance [2]. Tumors represent complex, heterogeneous diseases. Pathologically, tumors originate from normal cells that progressively acquire genetic alterations due to factors like genetic predisposition, environmental exposures, or viral infection. These alterations eventually give rise to dysregulated cellular populations. The malignant © The Author(s) 2026. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creativecommons.org/l](http://creativecommons.org/l)icenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. Table

FAQs

What is SOX1 and why is it relevant to cancer?

SOX1 is a transcription factor involved in embryonic neurogenesis. Evidence indicates it also contributes to tumor initiation and progression through multiple mechanisms.

How does SOX1 act in epithelial cancers?

SOX1’s tumor-suppressive action in epithelial cancers frequently involves direct antagonism of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and downregulation of targets such as c-MYC and Cyclin D1.

Why is SOX1 considered a biomarker and therapeutic target?

The review evaluates SOX1 for cancer diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and associated complications. Despite challenges from functional heterogeneity, therapeutic modulation of upstream/downstream pathways and methylation-based assays for early detection are described as clinically promising.

Sep 22, 2026

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