G-Protein-gekoppelten-Rezeptoren (GPCRs) sind eine Gruppe von membranständigen Zellrezeptoren, welche extrazelluläre Signale mit Hilfe von Guanosintriphosphat (GTP)-bindenden Proteinen in intrazelluläre Signale umwandeln. Innerhalb der GPCR-Superfamilie bilden die Adhäsions-GPCR (aGPCR) mit 33 humanen Vertretern die zweitgrößte Familie [1]. Alle aGPCRs zeigen die gleiche Grundstruktur aus einer extrazellulären Domäne (ECD), die über sieben-Transmembrandomänen (7TM) mit der intrazellulären Domäne (ICD) verbunden ist. Eine Besonderheit stellt hierbei die außergewöhnliche Größe der ECD dar.

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Tumorigenesis is a multistep process, during which cells acquire a series of mutations that lead to unrestrained cell growth and proliferation, inhibition of cell differentiation, and evasion of cell death. Growing tumors stimulate angiogenesis, providing them with nutrients and oxygen. Ultimately, tumor cells invade the surrounding tissue and metastasize; a process responsible for about 90% of cancer-related deaths. Adhesion G protein-coupled receptors (aGPCRs) modulate the cellular processes closely related to tumor cell biology, such as adhesion and detachment, migration, polarity, and guidance. Soon after first being described, individual human aGPCRs were found to be involved in tumorigenesis. Twenty-five years ago, CD97/ADGRE5 was discovered to be induced in one of the most severe tumors, dedifferentiated anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. After decades of research, the time has come to review our knowledge of the presence and function of CD97 in cancer. In summary, CD97 is obviously induced or altered in many tumor entities; this has been shown consistently in nearly one hundred published studies. However, its high expression at circulating and tumor-infiltrating immune cells renders the systemic targeting of CD97 in tumors difficult.