Deciphering Common Traits of Breast and Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells and Possible Therapeutic Approaches

Sep 24, 2026

Breast cancer and ovarian cancer are leading, highly heterogeneous causes of cancer mortality in women, with most cases detected at advanced stages despite screening gains for breast cancer. Initial remission is often followed by frequent recurrence driven largely by cancer stem cells (CSCs) that self-renew and reinitiate tumor growth and that contribute to therapy resistance. This review examines distinctive CSC markers, signaling pathways, CSC–tumor microenvironment interactions, and immune-evasion strategies, emphasizing shared features between breast and ovarian CSCs and proposing potential therapeutic approaches.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages43

Reading Time1 h 48 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Cancer stem cells, markers, and signaling pathways

Interactions with tumor microenvironment and immune evasion

Common features of breast and ovarian CSCs

Potential therapeutic approaches

Review Deciphering Common Traits of Breast and Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells and Possible Therapeutic Approaches Ivan Luˇci´c 1,†, Matea Kurtovi´c 2,†, Monika Mlinari´c 1, Nikolina Piteša 2, Ana ˇCipak Gašparovi´c 1, Maja Sabol 2 and Lidija Milkovi´c 1, * 1 Laboratory for Oxidative Stress, Division of Molecular Medicine, Ruer Boškovi´c Institute, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; [ivan.lucic@irb.hr](ivan.lucic@irb.hr) (I.L.); [monika.mlinaric@irb.hr](monika.mlinaric@irb.hr) (M.M.); [ana.cipak.gasparovic@irb.hr](ana.cipak.gasparovic@irb.hr) (A.ˇC .G.) 2 Laboratory for Hereditary Cancer, Division of Molecular Medicine, Ruer Boškovi´c Institute, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; [matea.kurtovic@irb.hr](matea.kurtovic@irb.hr) (M.K.); [nikolina.pitesa@irb.hr](nikolina.pitesa@irb.hr) (N.P.); [maja.sabol@irb.hr](maja.sabol@irb.hr) (M.S.) * Correspondence: [lidija.milkovic@irb.hr](lidija.milkovic@irb.hr); Tel.: +38-514-571212 † These authors contributed equally to this work. Citation: Luˇci´c, I.; Kurtovi´c, M.; Mlinari´c, M.; Piteša, N.; ˇCipak Gašparovi´c, A.; Sabol, M.; Milkovi´c, L. Deciphering Common Traits of Breast and Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells and Possible Therapeutic Approaches. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 10683. [https://doi.org/10.3390/](https://doi.org/10.3390/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.3390/)ijms241310683 Academic Editor: Pyung-Hwan Kim Received: 6 May 2023 Revised: 21 June 2023 Accepted: 23 June 2023 Published: 26 June 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) . Abstract: Breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) are among the most common and deadly cancers affecting women worldwide. Both are complex diseases with marked heterogeneity. Despite the induction of screening programs that increase the frequency of earlier diagnosis of BC, at a stage when the cancer is more likely to respond to therapy, which does not exist for OC, more than 50% of both cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Initial therapy can put the cancer into remission. However, recurrences occur frequently in both BC and OC, which are highly cancer-subtype dependent. Therapy resistance is mainly attributed to a rare subpopulation of cells, named cancer stem cells (CSC) or tumor-initiating cells, as they are capable of self-renewal, tumor initiation, andregrowth of tumor bulk. In this review, we will discuss the distinctive markers and signaling pathways that characterize CSC, their interactions with the tumor microenvironment, and the strategies they employ to evade immune surveillance. Our focus will be on identifying the common features of breast cancer stem cells (BCSC) and ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSC) and suggesting potential therapeutic approaches. Keywords: breast cancer; ovarian cancer; cancer stem cells (CSC); CSC markers; signaling pathways; tumor microenvironment; cancer immunoediting; in vitro and in vivo models; CSC-targeted therapy 1. Introduction Breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) are the most common and sixth most common cancers, respectively, and the ﬁrst and fourth leading causes, respectively, of cancer-related deaths among women under the age of 60 [1,2] . Both are also the deadliest women's cancers, BC altogether and OC among gynecologic malignancies. Interestingly, although BC and OC are two different cancers that arise in different tissues of the body, women with breast cancer susceptibility gene type 1 and type 2 (BRCA1 and BRCA2) mutations have a higher risk of developing BC and/or OC. The speciﬁc factors that determine whether a woman with a BRCA1/2 mutation will develop breast or ovarian cancer are not fully understood. Since BRCA1 and BRCA2 are involved in DNA repair, mutations in these g

FAQs

Why do breast and ovarian cancers frequently recur after initial therapy?

Recurrences occur frequently in both cancers and are largely linked to therapy resistance driven by a rare subpopulation of cancer stem cells (CSCs), which can self-renew and restart tumor growth.

What topics does the review focus on regarding cancer stem cells?

The review discusses distinctive CSC markers and signaling pathways, their interactions with the tumor microenvironment, and strategies used to evade immune surveillance, with attention to common traits between breast and ovarian CSCs.

How are breast cancer stem cells and ovarian cancer stem cells compared in the article?

The review identifies and emphasizes shared features of breast cancer stem cells (BCSC) and ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSC), then links these commonalities to possible therapeutic approaches.

Sep 24, 2026

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