ArticleBMC cancer2012
Protein markers of cancer-associated fibroblasts and tumor-initiating cells reveal subpopulations in freshly isolated ovarian cancer ascites.
Article in BMC cancer, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- Heterogeneity and plasticity of cancer-associated fibroblasts.Nature cancer · 2026Review
- Harnessing ovarian cancer ascites for translational science: models, biomarkers, and therapeutics.Molecular cancer · 2025Review
- Metastasis-associated fibroblasts in peritoneal surface malignancies.British journal of cancer · 2024Review
- Deciphering resistance mechanisms and novel strategies to overcome drug resistance in ovarian cancer: a comprehensive review.Oncology research · 2024Review
- What is the Reason That the Pharmacological Future of Chemotherapeutics in the Treatment of Lung Cancer Could Be Most Closely Related to Nanostructures? Platinum Drugs in Therapy of Non-Small and Small Cell Lung Cancer and Their Unexpected, Possible Interactions. The Review.International journal of nanomedicine · 2024Review
- Cancer-associated fibroblasts in gynecological malignancies: are they really allies of the enemy?Frontiers in oncology · 2023Review
- Spheroid Formation and Peritoneal Metastasis in Ovarian Cancer: The Role of Stromal and Immune Components.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Matrix stiffening and acquired resistance to chemotherapy: concepts and clinical significance.British journal of cancer · 2022Review
- Integrated single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing analyses reveal a prognostic signature of cancer-associated fibroblasts in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Frontiers in genetics · 2022Article
- Loss of Krüppel-like factor 9 facilitates stemness in ovarian cancer ascites-derived multicellular spheroids via Notch1/slug signaling.Cancer science · 2021Article
- Cancer-associated fibroblast-derived CCL5 contributes to cisplatin resistance in A549 NSCLC cells partially through upregulation of lncRNA HOTAIR expression.Oncology letters · 2021Article
- Fibroblasts in cancer dormancy: foe or friend?Cancer cell international · 2021Review
- Peritoneal Spread of Ovarian Cancer Harbors Therapeutic Vulnerabilities Regulated by FOXM1 and EGFR/ERBB2 Signaling.Cancer research · 2020Article
- Dangerous Liaisons: Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) and Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs).Cancers · 2020Review
- Current insights into the metastasis of epithelial ovarian cancer - hopes and hurdles.Cellular oncology (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2020Review
- Article
- Review
- Tumor cell‑fibroblast heterotypic aggregates in malignant ascites of patients with ovarian cancer.International journal of molecular medicine · 2019Article
- A Shifty Target: Tumor-Initiating Cells and Their Metabolism.International journal of molecular sciences · 2019Review
- Heterotypic CAF-tumor spheroids promote early peritoneal metastatis of ovarian cancer.The Journal of experimental medicine · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn ovarian cancer, massive intraperitoneal dissemination is due to exfoliated tumor cells in ascites. Tumor-initiating cells (TICs or cancer stem cells) and cells showing epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT) are particularly implicated. Spontaneous spherical cell aggregates are sometimes observed, but although similar to those formed by TICs in vitro, their significance is unclear.
methodsCells freshly isolated from malignant ascites were separated into sphere samples (S-type samples, n=9) and monolayer-forming single-cell suspensions (M-type, n=18). Using western blot, these were then compared for expression of protein markers of EMT, TIC, and of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs).
resultsS-type cells differed significantly from M-type by expressing high levels of E-cadherin and no or little vimentin, integrin-β3 or stem cell transcription factor Oct-4A. By contrast, M-type samples were enriched for CD44, Oct-4A and for CAF markers. Independently of M- and S-type, there was a strong correlation between TIC markers Nanog and EpCAM. The CAF marker α-SMA correlated with clinical stage IV. This is the first report on CAF markers in malignant ascites and on SUMOylation of Oct-4A in ovarian cancer.
conclusionsIn addition to demonstrating potentially high levels of TICs in ascites, the results suggest that the S-type population is the less tumorigenic one. Nanog(high)/EpCAM(high) samples represent a TIC subset which may be either M- or S-type, and which is separate from the CD44(high)/Oct-4A(high) subset observed only in M-type samples. This demonstrates a heterogeneity in TIC populations in vivo which has practical implications for TIC isolation based on cell sorting. The biological heterogeneity will need to be addressed in future therapeutical strategies.
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