Abstract
Epithelial ovarian cancer (OC) is highly responsive to chemotherapy but most patients eventually relapse and develop chemoresistance and die from their disease. Reoccurrence of ovarian tumors has been attributed to persistence of dormant cells with stem cell characteristics, which has been defined as cancer stem cells (CSCs). This chapter will summarize current knowledge on CSCs in OC, including their putative origin, characteristics, and methods of isolation and targeting strategies. CSCs display specific genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that fuel their survival, self-renewal, and tumor-initiating capacity. Therapies targeting the epigenome show potential for eradicating CSCs by inducing their differentiation. A continued need to identify strategies that block stem cell-specific vulnerabilities remains with the goal of completely eradicating CSCs and prevent disease relapse.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Cancer Stem Cells |
| Subtitle of host publication | Targeting the Roots of Cancer, Seeds of Metastasis, and Sources of Therapy Resistance |
| Publisher | Elsevier Inc |
| Pages | 231-259 |
| Number of pages | 29 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780128039342 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780128038925 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 1 2016 |
Keywords
- Cancer stem cells
- DNA methylation
- Epigenetics
- Ovarian cancer
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
