Updates of Iron Metabolism and Ovarian Cancers

WU Jian-fa

Abstract：Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality rate among the female reproductive malignancies, and the underling mechanism of which is still unknown. Iron is an essential element of physiological activity. The abnormal metabolism of iron has been found to be closely related with the occurrence of tumor. Iron, as a carcinogen, which induces DNA damage and mismatch repair, has been revealed to be associated with ovarian cancer development. Moreover, specifically detecting circulating tumor cells through Fe3O4 nanoparticles has been found to contribute to the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Furthermore, iron concentration, as a prognosis factor, has been used to assess prognosis of patients with ovarian cancer after chemotherapy. While, targeting iron metabolism, has been found to be conducive to the treatment of ovarian cancer to some extent. In a word, the study of the relationship between iron metabolism and the occurrence, development and prognosis of ovarian cancer, is beneficial to our understanding on ovarian cancer, which provides a new insight into ovarian cancer diagnosis and treatment.