Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2009 Mar 1;8(5):731-5.
doi: 10.4161/cc.8.5.7848. Epub 2009 Mar 14.

Epithelial ovarian cancer: focus on genetics and animal models

Weiwei Shan  1 , Jinsong Liu
Affiliations
Review

Epithelial ovarian cancer: focus on genetics and animal models

Weiwei Shan et al. Cell Cycle. .

Abstract

Despite rapid advances in understanding ovarian cancer etiology, epithelial ovarian cancer remains the most lethal form of gynecologic cancers in the United States. The four morphologically-defined epithelial ovarian cancer subtypes-serous, endometrioid, mucinous, and clear cell carcinomas--are generally believed to originate from ovarian epithelial cells. Although it remains unclear how this single cell layer gives rise to morphologically distinct cancers, it has been suggested that early genetic events may direct the differentiation of ovarian epithelial cells. A number of genetic alterations are frequently encountered during ovarian tumorigenesis, including oncogenic activities of KRAS, BRAF and AKT, and silencing mutations of TP53, RB and PTEN. However, knowledge about how these genetic elements are coordinated during ovarian cancer initiation and progression is very limited. The establishment of cell-culture systems and rodent-based models has made big strides towards a better understanding of the genetic bases of human epithelial ovarian tumorigenesis. More importantly, the rise of genetically-engineered rodent and human models, particularly in the past five years, has provided key insight in the role of specific genes during ovarian tumorigenesis. In this review, we offer a comprehensive coverage of currently-available in vitro and in vivo models of human epithelial ovarian cancer, focusing on latest updates of genetically-modified rodent and human models and the valuable information conveyed by them.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

Substances

LinkOut - more resources