Fig. 1

Diagram of differentiation therapy. Compared with traditional cancer treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy that aim to kill tumor cells, differentiation therapy has opened a new door for the treatment of malignant tumors. Differentiation therapy is based on the concept that a neoplasm is a differentiation disorder or a dedifferentiation disease. In response to the induction of differentiation, tumor cells can revert to normal or nearly normal cells, thereby altering their malignant phenotype and ultimately alleviating the tumor burden or curing the malignant disease without damaging normal cells. ATRA, all-trans-retinoic acid