Abstract: N6-methyladenosine (m6A) demethylase fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO ), previously recognized to be related with obesity and diabetes, was gradually discovered to be dysregulated in multiple cancers and plays an oncogenic or tumor-suppressive role. However, the specific expression and pro- or anti-cancer role of FTO  in various cancers remained controversial. In this review, through summarizing the available literature, we found that FTO  single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were closely related with cancer risk. Additionally, the dysregulation of FTO  was implicated in multiple biological processes, such as cancer cell apoptosis, proliferation, migration, invasion, metastasis, cell-cycle, differentiation, stem cell self-renewal and so on. These modulations mostly relied on the communications between FTO  and specific signaling pathways, including PI3K/AKT , MAPK  and mTOR  signaling pathways. Furthermore, FTO  had great potential for clinical application by serving as a prognostic biomarker.
Keywords: FTO, biological function, cancers, prognosis