Integrin Inhibitors as a Therapeutic Agent for Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

Ovarian cancer is a deadly disease, with a cure rate of only 30%. Despite aggressive treatments, relapse remains almost inevitable in patients with advanced-stage disease. In recent years, great progress has been made towards targeting integrins in cancer treatment, and clinical studies with various integrin inhibitors have demonstrated their effectiveness in blocking cancer progression. Given that the initial critical step of ovarian cancer metastasis is the attachment of cancer cells onto the peritoneum or omentum, in addition to the proven positive clinical results of anti-angiogenic therapy, targeting integrins is likely to be one of the most feasible approaches. This paper summarizes the current understanding of the integrin biology in ovarian cancer metastasis and the various therapeutic approaches attempted with integrin inhibitors. Although no integrin inhibitors have shown favorable results so far, integrin-targeted therapies continue to be a promising approach to be explored for further clinical investigation.