Abstract
Ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death among women in developed countries. Greater than 85% of human ovarian cancer arises within the ovarian surface epithelium (OSE), with the remainder derived from granulosa cells or, rarely, stroma or germ cells. The pathophysiology of ovarian cancer is the least understood among all major human malignancies because of a poor understanding of the aetiological factors and mechanisms of ovarian cancer progression. There is increasing evidence suggesting that several key reproductive hormones, such as GnRH, gonadotrophins and sex steroids, regulate the growth of normal OSE and ovarian cancer cells. The objective of this review was to highlight the effects of these endocrine factors on ovarian cancer cell growth and to summarize the signalling mechanisms involved in normal human OSE and its neoplastic counterparts.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 143-162 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Human Reproduction Update |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2007 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Foundation for Health Research. JHC is recipient of a studentship award from the CIHR Interdisciplinary Research Training Program of Women’s Reproductive Health. We thank Dr Christian Klausen for his critical comments and review of the manuscript.
Keywords
- GnRH
- Gonadotrophin
- Hormonal carcinogenesis and signalling pathway
- Ovarian cancer
- Ovarian surface epithelium
- Steroid
