Abstract: Retinoic acid (RA) is a metabolic intermediate of vitamin A, which plays an important role in embryonic development and cell growth and differentiation. Cellular retinoic acid-binding proteins 2 (CRABP2) are a group of low-molecular weight intracellular proteins whose primary physiological function is to transport RA to the nucleus. Generally, CRABP2 binds to the retinoic acid receptor (RAR), then regulates specific downstream signaling pathways to function. Abnormal expression of CRABP2 was closely related to several human malignant tumors, and could affect the tumor occurrence and development through regulating multiple growth or apoptosis associated pathways or key biological molecules. Therefore, CRABP2 may be considered as a new diagnostic and prognostic marker for cancer, and a new therapeutic target for malignant tumors. Our present article summarizes the relationship between CRABP2 and tumor progression, drug resistance and prognosis, so as to provide reference for the future research.

Key words: CRABP2, tumor, initiation, metastasis, drug resistance, molecular marker