Abstract
Ovarian cancer seriously threatens women’s health because of its poor
prognosis and high mortality. Due to the lack of efficient early
detection and screening methods, when patients seek doctors’ help with
complaints of abdominal distension, back pain and other nonspecific
signs, the clinical results always hint at the widespread metastasis of
disease. When referring to the metastasis of this disease, the omentum
always takes precedence. The distinguishing feature of the omentum is
adipose tissue, which satisfies the energy demand of cancer cells and
supplies a more aggressive environment for ovarian cancer cells. In this
review, we mainly focus on three important cell types: adipocytes,
macrophages and mesenchymal stem cells. Besides, several mechanisms
underlying cancer-associated adipocytes (CAA)-facilitated ovarian cancer
cell development have been revealed, including their capacities for
storing lipids and endocrine function, and the release of hormones,
growth factors, and adipokines. Blocking the reciprocity among cancer
cells and various cells located on the omentum might contribute to
ovarian cancer therapy. The inhibition of hormones, growth factors and
adipokines produced by adipocytes will be a novel therapeutic strategy.
However, a sufficient number of trials has not been performed. In spite
of this, the therapeutic potential of metformin and the roles of
exercise in ovarian cancer will be worth mentioning. It’s almost
impossible to overcome completely ovarian cancer at the moment. What we
can do is trying our best to improve these patients’ prognoses. In this
process, adipocytes may bring promising future for the therapy of
ovarian cancer.