Detection of Carcinoma-Associated Fibroblasts Derived from Mesothelial Cells via Mesothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Primary Ovarian Carcinomas.

Simple Summary: Approximately 70–80% of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (OC) experience peritoneal metastasis. Identification of mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (MMT) in the peritoneum may guide the accurate treatment and follow-up of patients with advanced OC. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether MMT took place in primary OC biopsies. We suggest the identified mesothelial-derived carcinoma-associated fibroblasts in primary tumors could impact the clinical progression of patients with OC. Carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are highly accumulated in the tumor-surrounding stroma of primary epithelial ovarian cancer (OC). CAFs exert important functions for the vascularization, growth, and progression of OC cells. However, the origin of CAFs in primary OC had not yet been studied, and they were assumed to arise from the activation of resident fibroblasts. Here, we compared CAFs in the ovary to CAFs found in peritoneal metastases from patients with advanced OC. Our findings show that CAFs from primary tumors and peritoneal metastases share the expression of mesothelial markers. Therefore, similar to peritoneal carcinomatosis, CAFs in primary ovarian carcinomas may originate from mesothelial cells via a mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition. The detection of mesothelial-derived CAFs in tumors confined to the ovary and identification of biomarkers could be the key to the early detection of OC and peritoneal spread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]