OCaMIR-A Noninvasive, Diagnostic Signature for Early-Stage Ovarian Cancer: A Multi-cohort Retrospective and Prospective Study.

Purpose: Due to the lack of effective screening approaches and early detection biomarkers, ovarian cancer has the highest mortality rates among gynecologic cancers. Herein, we undertook a systematic biomarker discovery and validation approach to identify microRNA (miRNA) biomarkers for the early detection of ovarian cancer.

Experimental Design: During the discovery phase, we performed small RNA sequencing in stage I high-grade serous ovarian cancer ( = 31), which was subsequently validated in multiple, independent data sets (TCGA, = 543; GSE65819, = 87).

Targeting Nuclear Receptors for Cancer Therapy: Premises, Promises, and Challenges.

Nuclear receptors are a family of transcription factors localized in cell nuclei, sensing specific ligands and fine-tuning a variety of cell physiological events. They have been intensively investigated in cancer biology. With their excellent properties of druggability and actionability, nuclear receptors have demonstrated much promise as novel therapeutic targets for different cancer types.

Pharmacological Activation of Estrogen Receptor Beta Overcomes Tumor Resistance to Immune Checkpoint Blockade Therapy.

The emerging immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy has ushered the cancer therapeutics field into an era of immunotherapy. Although ICB treatment provides remarkable clinical responses in a subset of patients with cancer, this regimen fails to extend survival in a large proportion of patients. Here, we found that a combined treatment of estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) agonist and PD-1 antibody treatment improved therapeutic efficacy in mouse tumor models, compared with monotherapies, by reducing infiltration of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and increasing CD8 T cells in tumors.

A Novel Autocrine CXCL14/ACKR2 Axis: The Achilles' Heel of Cancer Metastasis?

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) are essential for cancer hallmarks. While CAFs are molecularly heterogeneous, a CXCL14-expressing subset has been a critical player in the cancer context. In breast cancer, an autocrine fibroblast CXCL14/ACKR2 axis mediates epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and endows metastatic traits, which offers novel therapeutic potential in the clinical setting.

Epigenetics in ovarian cancer: premise, properties, and perspectives.

Malignant ovarian tumors bear the highest mortality rate among all gynecological cancers. Both late tumor diagnosis and tolerance to available chemical therapy increase patient mortality. Therefore, it is both urgent and important to identify biomarkers facilitating early identification and novel agents preventing recurrence.

Pharmacological activation of estrogen receptor beta augments innate immunity to suppress cancer metastasis.

Metastases constitute the greatest causes of deaths from cancer. However, no effective therapeutic options currently exist for cancer patients with metastasis. Estrogen receptor β (ERβ), as a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily, shows potent tumor-suppressive activities in many cancers.

The RNA binding protein SORBS2 suppresses metastatic colonization of ovarian cancer by stabilizing tumor-suppressive immunomodulatory transcripts.

Background: Ovarian cancer constitutes one of the most lethal gynecologic malignancies for females. Currently, early detection strategies and therapeutic options for ovarian cancer are far from satisfactory, leading to high diagnosis rates at late stages and disease relapses. New avenues of therapy are needed that target key processes in ovarian cancer progression.