Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Microenvironment
A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Tumor Microenvironment".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2025 | Viewed by 4039
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The ovarian tumor microenvironment is a dynamic ecosystem composed of a heterogenous collection of tumor cells, immune cells, stromal cells, extracellular matrix proteins, and vasculature. A variety of soluble factors including cytokines, chemokines, growth factors and exosomes are critical for shaping the tumor microenvironment and influencing tumor cell phenotypes and responses to therapy. While bulk tumor cells have a more differentiated phenotype and are sensitive to chemotherapy; a minority of relatively undifferentiated tumor cells exhibit features of normal stem cells that allow them to evade chemotherapy and generate heterogeneous tumors. These cells are commonly referred to as cancer stem/stem-like cells (CSCs) or tumor-initiating cells (TICs). It is thought that CSCs are responsible for the high rate of relapse experienced by high-grade serous ovarian cancer patients and efforts to target these cells are of great clinical interest.
Research over the last decade has focused on identifying and characterizing ovarian CSCs to delineate reliable markers such as surface expression of LGR5, CD117, or CD133 in combination with aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity and reproducible phenotypes such as tumor-initiation capacity, drug resistance, and the ability to undergo asymmetric division. Although CSCs may be preexisting and their deregulation responsible for initial tumor formation, recent findings indicate that CSCs can be induced in bulk tumor cells through paracrine activation of signaling pathways that sustain stem-like features. Dynamic communication between tumor cells, macrophages, fibroblasts, and adipocytes is implicated in supporting CSCs and creating a pro-tumorigenic niche that facilitates chemotherapy resistance and immune evasion. A better understanding of the biological mechanisms that sustain ovarian CSCs and the role of the tumor microenvironment in this process will lead to new therapeutic targets to overcome chemotherapy resistance, prevent relapse, and improve survival of ovarian cancer patients. This Special Issue will highlight the role of the ovarian tumor microenvironment in CSC maintenance, immune evasion, and response to therapeutics, covering basic and translational studies that advance our understanding of this dynamic biological system.
Dr. Carrie House
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- cancer stem cells
- stem-like cells
- tumor initiation
- chemotherapy resistance
- tumor relapse
- tumor microenvironment
- tumor immunology
- stromal cells
- cancer-associated fibroblasts
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