Li Haixia, Li Jinghua, Feng Limin
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beijing TianTan Hospital, Capital Medical University, China.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beijing TianTan Hospital, Capital Medical University, China.
Cancer Epidemiol. 2016 Feb;40:152-7. doi: 10.1016/j.canep.2015.11.014. Epub 2015 Dec 24.
Ovarian cancer is the most lethal cause of death among gynecological malignancies. Despite advancements in surgery and chemotherapy treatment strategies, the prognosis of ovarian cancer patients remains poor; a majority of patients relapse and eventually succumb to this disease. Therefore, novel therapeutic approaches to improve patient outcome are urgently needed. The hedgehog signaling pathway is vital for embryonic development and tissue homeostasis, and its deregulation is implicated in cancer cell growth, survival, differentiation, and metastasis. The critical role of hedgehog signaling in multiple biologic processes raises concerns about its potential therapeutic use in cancer. Consequently, many studies are focusing on hedgehog signaling as an attractive target in cancer treatment. In this review, we present an overview of the hedgehog pathway and its pathological aberrations in ovarian cancer. We also discuss inhibitors of the hedgehog signaling pathway that are currently being investigated in the laboratory and in early clinical trials; as well as the clinical challenges these inhibitors face.
卵巢癌是妇科恶性肿瘤中致死率最高的病因。尽管手术和化疗治疗策略有所进展，但卵巢癌患者的预后仍然很差；大多数患者会复发并最终死于这种疾病。因此，迫切需要新的治疗方法来改善患者的预后。刺猬信号通路对胚胎发育和组织稳态至关重要，其失调与癌细胞的生长、存活、分化和转移有关。刺猬信号在多个生物学过程中的关键作用引发了人们对其在癌症治疗中潜在治疗用途的关注。因此，许多研究都将刺猬信号作为癌症治疗中一个有吸引力的靶点。在这篇综述中，我们概述了刺猬信号通路及其在卵巢癌中的病理异常。我们还讨论了目前正在实验室和早期临床试验中研究的刺猬信号通路抑制剂；以及这些抑制剂面临的临床挑战。
