Emerging role of cancer stem cells in the biology and treatment of ovarian cancer: basic knowledge and therapeutic possibilities for an innovative approach.\ud \ud \ud doi: 10.1186/1756-9966-32-48.\ud PMID: 23902592\ud Codice scopus: 2-s2.0-84880911745\ud CODICE ISI: WOS:000322974300002

摘要

In 2013 there will be an estimated 22,240 new diagnoses and 14,030 deaths from ovarian cancer in the United\udStates. Despite the improved surgical approach and the novel active drugs that are available today in clinical\udpractice, about 80% of women presenting with late-stage disease have a 5-year survival rate of only 30%. In the last\udyears a growing scientific knowledge about the molecular pathways involved in ovarian carcinogenesis has led to\udthe discovery and evaluation of several novel molecular targeted agents, with the aim to test alternative models of\udtreatment in order to overcome the clinical problem of resistance. Cancer stem cells tend to be more resistant to\udchemotherapeutic agents and radiation than more differentiated cellular subtypes from the same tissue. In this\udcontext the study of ovarian cancer stem cells is taking on an increasingly important strategic role, mostly for the\udpotential therapeutic application in the next future. In our review, we focused our attention on the molecular\udcharacteristics of epithelial ovarian cancer stem cells, in particular on possible targets to hit with targeted therapies.