Advances in the Applications of Mucin 1 in Cancer Therapy

Mucin 1 belongs to the membrane-binding mucoprotein subfamily, which is normally a highly O-glycosylated polymer protein that is mainly expressed in epithelial cells and some hematopoietic cells. Mucin 1 was overexpressed in many cancer tissues compared to normal tissue with a lower degree of glycosylation. Mucin 1 is weakly O-glycosylated in tumor cells, the core site is exposed, and it is widely distributed on the surface of tumor cells, making it an important tumor marker. Mucin 1 has a wide range of applications in tumor diagnosis, tumor drug targeted delivery, and immunodeficiency therapy. Animal studies and clinical studies suggest that mucin 1 can be used as a target in tumor-targeted therapy. This review covers our current summary of the structure and function of mucin 1, reveals its expression in human tumors, focuses on mucin 1-based targeted therapy regimens, and summarizes the research progress of mucin 1 in targeted tumor therapy.