Cancer Biology Commons^™

Features Of Dormancy In Metastatic Ovarian Cancer Cells, Rohann Jm Correa

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The most prevalent subtype of ovarian cancer – high-grade serous (HGS) carcinoma – is also the most lethal, since the majority of cases are characterized by advanced-stage (metastatic) presentation. Metastasis of this cancer proceeds by an intra-peritoneal route, involving detachment of cells from the primary tumour and dissemination throughout the peritoneal cavity as multicellular aggregates, or spheroids. Herein, we demonstrate that HGS patient-derived tumour cells cultured to form in vitro spheroids exhibit features of cancer dormancy, a cellular state known to promote therapeutic resistance and disease recurrence. We discovered that upon spheroid formation, cells became non-proliferative, exhibiting a cell cycle …