Abstract
In 2013 there will be an estimated 22,240 new diagnoses and 14,030 deaths from ovarian cancer in the United States. Despite the improved surgical approach and the novel active drugs that are available today in clinical practice, about 80% of women presenting with late-stage disease have a 5-year survival rate of only 30%. In the last years a growing scientific knowledge about the molecular pathways involved in ovarian carcinogenesis has led to the discovery and evaluation of several novel molecular targeted agents, with the aim to test alternative models of treatment in order to overcome the clinical problem of resistance. Cancer stem cells tend to be more resistant to chemotherapeutic agents and radiation than more differentiated cellular subtypes from the same tissue. In this context the study of ovarian cancer stem cells is taking on an increasingly important strategic role, mostly for the potential therapeutic application in the next future. In our review, we focused our attention on the molecular characteristics of epithelial ovarian cancer stem cells, in particular on possible targets to hit with targeted therapies.
Highlights
Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), a tumor originating from ovarian epithelial surface, includes different histological subtypes [1,2,3]
The pharmacological activity of drugs used in EOC could be reduced by a biological phenomenon that is able to induce the transformation of epithelial to mesenchymal cells (EMT) and the progression, invasion and diffusion of the tumor [17]
This study identifies a modulation by SNAI1 and SNAI2 toward repressing a newly acquired subset of gene targets under conditions of stress that results in inactivation of p53-mediated apoptosis
Summary
Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), a tumor originating from ovarian epithelial surface, includes different histological subtypes [1,2,3]. Patel and his colleagues demonstrated that imatinib mesylate is involved in complex cellular processes, including metabolic pathways, cell cycle, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and signal transduction through mass spectrometry-based proteomics method in human ovarian cancer cell line A2780 [177]. The joint effort of the EPR effect and endocytosis method of targeting tumor cells provides a possible twofold benefit in cancer treatment This approach minimizes side effects of widespread drug delivery and contributes to overcome resistance mechanisms, such as cell-surface protein pumps. In addition to anti-cancer drug delivery, controlled and targeted release through the EPR effect,combined with surface modifications, allow a direct interface with specific CSCs by utilizing particular surface markers, receptors, epitopes, or any other unique features of the CSCs, absent in healthy tissues and normal stem cells. Some miRNAs own oncogenic property, such as miR-125, miR-9, miR-30, miR-21 and miR-215 [202,203]
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