Review: Mechanotransduction in ovarian cancer: Shearing into the unknown
Abstract
Ovarian cancer remains a deadly diagnosis with an 85% recurrence rate and a 5-year survival rate of only 46%. The poor outlook of this disease has improved little over the past 50 years owing to the lack of early detection, chemoresistance and the complex tumor microenvironment. Within the peritoneal cavity, the presence of ascites stimulates ovarian tumors with shear stresses. The stiff environment found within the tumor extracellular matrix and the peritoneal membrane are also implicated in the metastatic potential and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) of ovarian cancer. Though these mechanical cues remain highly relevant to the understanding and treatment of ovarian cancers, our current knowledge of their biological processes and their clinical relevance is deeply lacking. Seminal studies on ovarian cancer mechanotransduction have demonstrated close ties between mechanotransduction and ovarian cancer chemoresistance, EMT, enhanced cancer stem cell populations, and metastasis. This review summarizes our current understanding of ovarian cancer mechanotransduction and the gaps in knowledge that exist. Future investigations on ovarian cancer mechanotransduction will greatly improve clinical outcomes via systematic studies that determine shear stress magnitude and its influence on ovarian cancer progression, metastasis, and treatment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jun 07, 2018
- Source ID
- 10.1063/1.5024386
Entities
People
- Caymen Novak
- Eric Horst
- Geeta Mehta
Organizations
- National Science Foundation
- Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer
- United States Department of Defense
- University of Michigan