Ovarian cancer is a gynecological neoplasm that can be found in women, which, due to diagnostic difficulties, is often detected at advanced stages when treatment becomes a significant problem. Moreover, in a number of cases there is a cancer recurrence and resistance to standard chemotherapy treatment. It has been suggested that cancer stem cells (CSCs) that were not eradicated during therapy may be responsible for this. For this reason, effective therapeutic methods eliminating CSCs are being studied, such as therapy targeting CSCs markers. In addition, numerous studies have also drawn attention to the usefulness of CSCs markers in predicting disease progression and assessing patient's prognosis as well as their importance in the development of treatment resistance. The present review presented research on selected CSCs markers, which may be of significant prognostic and therapeutic importance in ovarian cancer. Contents1. Introduction 2. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) 3. CSCs in ovarian cancer 4. Clinical significance of CSCs markers in ovarian cancer 5. Therapeutic importance of CSCs markers 6. Conclusion PATRYCJA KRÓLEWSKA-DASZCZYŃSKA, DOMINIKA WENDLOCHA, MARTA SMYCZ-KUBAŃSKA, SEBASTIAN STĘPIEŃ and ALEKSANDRA MIELCZAREK-

Endometriosis is a disorder characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity, primarily into the peritoneal cavity. It is known as a complex, chronic inflammatory disease and it is strongly associated with immune dysregulation. Various soluble mediators of the immune and inflammatory responses, including chemokines, play an important role in these processes. The aim of the study was to understand the role of the chemokines MCP-1, MCP-2, MCP-3, MCP-4, MIP-1 α, MIP-1β, eotaxin 2, eotaxin 3, ENA-78, and fractalkine in the development of endometriosis through their assessment in the peritoneal fluid of women with endometriosis. The study group included 58 women with endometriosis who were diagnosed during laparoscopy and then confirmed by histopathology. In 15 women from the reference group, laparoscopic examination demonstrated a normal status of the pelvic organs without any evidence of endometriosis nor inflammation in the peritoneal cavity. The peritoneal fluid of women with endometriosis and of women from the reference group were examined. To determine the concentration of the studied chemokines, enzyme immunoassays for Luminex® platforms were used. In the peritoneal fluid of women with endometriosis, a statistically significant increase in the concentration of MIP-1β, eotaxin 2, eotaxin 3, ENA-78, and fractalkine and a decrease in the concentration of MCP-1, MCP-2, MCP-3, MCP-4, and MIP-1α were observed compared to the reference group. The concentration of these cytokines depended on the severity of the disease. Changes in the concentration of the studied chemokines in the peritoneal fluid of women with endometriosis suggest their participation in the pathogenesis of the disease. The differences in chemokines concentration observed in different stages of endometriosis may be associated with the presence of inflammation in the peritoneal cavity at each step of disease development.

The incidence of ovarian cancer is increasing, particularly throughout the highly developed countries, while this cancer type remains a major diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. The currently poorly recognized lectins called galectins have various roles in interactions occurring in the tumor microenvironment. Galectins are involved in tumor-associated processes, including the promotion of growth, adhesion, angiogenesis and survival of tumor cells. results of research studies performed so far point to a complex role of galectins-1, 3, -7, -8 and -9 in carcinogenesis of ovarian cancer and elucidation of the mechanisms may contribute to novel forms of therapies targeting the proteins. in particular, it appears important to recognize the reasons for changes in expression of galectins. Galectins also appear to be a useful diagnostic and prognostic tool to evaluate tumor progression or the efficacy of therapies in patients with ovarian cancer, which requires further study.

Understanding the relationship between the coexistence of inflammatory and neoplastic processes in ovarian cancer, particularly those involving chemokines and their receptors, may help to elucidate the involvement of the studied parameters in tumor pathogenesis and could lead to improved clinical applications. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyze the levels of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8 (CXCL8), and its receptors C-X-C chemokine receptor (CXCR)1 and CXCR2, in the serum and peritoneal fluid of women with ovarian cancer, and to evaluate the association between the expression of these parameters in tumor tissue and patient characteristics, particularly the degree of histological differentiation. The study group included women with ovarian cancer diagnosed with serous cystadenocarcinoma International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IIIc and a control group, which consisted of women who were diagnosed with a benign lesion (serous cystadenoma). The transcript levels of CXCL8, CXCR1 and CXCR2 were evaluated using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The quantitative analysis was carried out using the LightCycler ® 480 System and GoTaq ® 1-Step RT-qPCR System, according to the manufacturers' instructions. The concentration of CXCL8 in serum and peritoneal fluid was determined using a Human Interleukin-8 ELISA kit, and the concentrations of CXCR1 and CXCR2 were determined using the CLOUD-CLONE ELISA kit. Local and systemic disturbances in immune and inflammatory responses involving the CXCL8 chemokine and its receptors indicated the involvement of these studied parameters in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer. Immunoregulation of the CXCL8-CXCR1 system may influence the course of the inflammatory process accompanying ovarian cancer development, which may result in the identification of novel clinical applications; however, further studies are required.