ABSTRACT
COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus disease 2019, is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) declared pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). As the world faces the coronavirus disease 2019 crisis, the oncology community is being impacted by unprecedented challenges. During this trying time, patients with ovarian cancer (OC) have been affected by a delay in diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and oncology follow-ups being conducted via telemedicine instead of in-person visits. OC patients and their oncologists are balancing the fears of COVID-19 and cancer treatment with the consequences of delaying cancer care. The delay in treatment care that women with OC are experiencing has resulted in higher levels of cancer worry, anxiety, and depression. In this article, we succinctly review the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis and treatment and ongoing clinical trials of OC. We also discuss the psychological effects of COVID-19 on women with OC and alternative therapeutic strategies to limit in-person hospital visits to reduce the spread of the disease, and the impact of COVID-19 on OC patients.
ABSTRACT
Systemic and organ-confined inflammation has been associated with cancer development and progression. Resistin, initially described as an adipocyte-derived cytokine in mice, is mostly expressed by the macrophages in humans. It has potent pro-inflammatory properties, and its elevated serum levels are detected in cancer patients. Aberrant expression of resistin receptors is also reported in several malignancies and associated with aggressive clinicopathological features. Several lines of evidence demonstrate that resistin, acting through its different receptors, promotes tumor growth, metastasis, and chemoresistance by influencing a variety of cellular phenotypes as well as by modulating the tumor microenvironment. Racially disparate expression of resistin has also attracted much interest, considering prevalent cancer health disparities. This review discusses the aberrant expression of resistin and its receptors, its diverse downstream signaling and impact on tumor growth, metastasis, angiogenesis, and therapy resistance to support its clinical exploitation in biomarker and therapeutic development.
Subject(s)
Drug Resistance, Neoplasm , Neoplasms/immunology , Resistin/metabolism , Disease Progression , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Humans , Neoplasms/blood , Resistin/blood , Resistin/chemistry , Signal Transduction , Tumor MicroenvironmentABSTRACT
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy and a leading cause of cancer-related death in women worldwide. It also exhibits pronounced racial disparities in terms of incidence and clinical outcomes. There has been a growing interest in research community to better understand the role of the microenvironment in cancer. Several lines of evidence have highlighted the significance of chronic inflammation at the local and/or systemic level in breast tumor pathobiology. Inflammation can influence breast cancer progression, metastasis and therapeutic outcome by establishing a tumor supportive immune microenvironment. These processes are mediated through a variety of cytokines and hormones that exert their biological actions either locally or distantly via systemic circulation. Targeting of immune and inflammatory pathways has met tremendous success in some cancers underscoring the importance of research to further our understanding of these systems in breast cancer. This knowledge can be helpful not only in the development of novel prevention and therapeutic strategies, but also help in better prediction of therapeutic responses in patients. This review summarizes some of the significant findings on the role of inflammation in breast cancer to gain collective molecular and mechanistic insights. We also discuss ongoing efforts and future outlook to exploit the existing knowledge for improved breast cancer management.
