Cancer stem-like cells (CSLCs) are defined as cancer cells with stem cell characteristics. Although CSLCs constitute no more than a few percent of the tumor mass, they play important roles in cancer chemo-resistance, metastasis and disease recurrence. Ovarian cancer (OC) is considered the most aggressive gynecological malignancy in which the role of CSLCs is of major significance, although it remains to be specified. The studies describing ovarian CSLC phenotype vary in the definition of the molecular pattern of expression of the main markers such as CD133, CD44, CD117, and CD24. Stem-like features of OC have been shown to correlate with the clinical course of the disease and permit diagnosis, prognosis and treatment outcome to be improved. Identification of CSLC markers could provide hallmarks which, related to the chemo-resistance of the disease, will facilitate treatment selection. This review describes recent advances in research on stem-like cell status in OC, mainly focusing on surface markers of CSLCs and their clinical relevance.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.