Lupia Michela, Cavallaro Ugo
Unit of Gynecological Oncology Research, European Institute of Oncology, Via G. Ripamonti 435, I-20141, Milan, Italy.
Mol Cancer. 2017 Mar 20;16(1):64. doi: 10.1186/s12943-017-0638-3.
The cancer stem cell (CSC) model proposes that tumor development and progression are fueled and sustained by undifferentiated cancer cells, endowed with self-renewal and tumor-initiating capacity. Ovarian carcinoma, based on its biological features and clinical evolution, appears as a prototypical example of CSC-driven disease. Indeed, ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSC) would account not only for the primary tumor growth, the peritoneal spread and the relapse, but also for the development of chemoresistance, thus having profound implication for the treatment of this deadly disease. In the last decade, an increasing body of experimental evidence has supported the existence of OCSC and their pathogenic role in the disease. Nevertheless, the identification of OCSC and the definition of their phenotypical and functional traits have proven quite challenging, mainly because of the heterogeneity of the disease and of the difficulties in establishing reliable biological models. A deeper understanding of OCSC pathobiology will shed light on the mechanisms that underlie the clinical behaviour of OC. In addition, it will favour the design of innovative treatment regimens that, on one hand, would counteract the resistance to conventional chemotherapy, and, on the other, would aim at the eradication of OC through the elimination of its CSC component.
癌症干细胞（CSC）模型提出，肿瘤的发生和发展是由具有自我更新和肿瘤起始能力的未分化癌细胞推动并维持的。基于其生物学特性和临床演变，卵巢癌似乎是由CSC驱动疾病的典型例子。事实上，卵巢癌干细胞（OCSC）不仅可以解释原发性肿瘤的生长、腹膜播散和复发，还能解释化疗耐药性的产生，因此对这种致命疾病的治疗具有深远影响。在过去十年中，越来越多的实验证据支持了OCSC的存在及其在疾病中的致病作用。然而，OCSC的鉴定及其表型和功能特征的定义已被证明颇具挑战性，主要是因为该疾病的异质性以及建立可靠生物学模型的困难。对OCSC病理生物学的更深入理解将有助于揭示OC临床行为背后的机制。此外，这将有助于设计创新的治疗方案，一方面可以对抗对传统化疗的耐药性，另一方面旨在通过消除其CSC成分来根除OC。
