Role of Hyaluronic Acid in Selected Malignant Neoplasms in Women

Abstract

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a significant glycosaminoglycan component of the extracellular matrix, playing an essential role in cell localization and proliferation. However, high levels of HA may also correlate with multidrug resistance of tumor cells, an increased tendency to metastasize, or cancer progression, and thus represent a very unfavorable prognosis for cancer patients. The purpose of this review article is to summarize the results of studies describing the relationship between HA, the main ligand of the CD44 receptor, or other components of the HA signaling pathway. In addition, we review the course of selected female malignancies, i.e., breast, cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancer, with the main focus on the mechanisms oriented to CD44. We also analyze reports on the beneficial use of HA-containing preparations in adjuvant therapy among patients with these types of cancer. Data from the literature suggest that HA and its family members may be critical prognostic biomarkers of selected malignancies among women. Nevertheless, the results of the available studies are inconclusive, and the actual clinical significance of HA expression analysis is still quite enigmatic. In our opinion, the HA-CD44 signaling pathway should be an attractive target for future research related to targeted therapy in gynecological cancers.

The road after cancer: biomaterials and tissue engineering approaches to mediate the tumor microenvironment post-cancer treatment

“…Hyaluronic acid (HA) is another popular biomaterial most commonly used post-operatively, particularly in the form of a hydrogel, and can be combined with both natural molecules as well as synthetic polymers (Abatangelo et al, 2020). However, care must be taken when using HA, as it has been shown to regulate the TME and promote the malignant phenotype of cancer cells, and lead to multidrug resistance (Markowska et al, 2023). So, whilst HA is beneficial in applications such as wound repair, studies have shown that it can also effectively feed the cancer, causing it to grow and spread.…”

Targeting Breast Cancer: The Familiar, the Emerging, and the Uncharted Territories

“…Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a naturally occurring polymer and a glycosaminoglycan component of the extracellular matrix [ 171 ]. Overexpression of HA could indicate a poor prognosis, as it could be involved in progression, metastasis, and multidrug resistance [ 172 ]. A meta-analysis of breast cancer cases shows a correlation between high HA levels and lower disease-free survival, recurrence-free survival, and progression-free survival rates [ 173 ].…”