Clinical Significance of Tie-2-Expressing Monocytes/Macrophages and Angiopoietins in the Progression of Ovarian Cancer—State-of-the-Art
Wiktoria Skiba,
Dorota Suszczyk,
Anna Pawłowska,
Karolina Włodarczyk,
Anna Pańczyszyn,
Iwona Wertel
Affiliations
Wiktoria Skiba
Independent Laboratory of Cancer Diagnostics and Immunology, Department of Oncological Gynaecology and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lublin, Chodźki 4a, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
Dorota Suszczyk
Independent Laboratory of Cancer Diagnostics and Immunology, Department of Oncological Gynaecology and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lublin, Chodźki 4a, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
Anna Pawłowska
Independent Laboratory of Cancer Diagnostics and Immunology, Department of Oncological Gynaecology and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lublin, Chodźki 4a, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
Karolina Włodarczyk
Independent Laboratory of Cancer Diagnostics and Immunology, Department of Oncological Gynaecology and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lublin, Chodźki 4a, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
Anna Pańczyszyn
Institute of Medical Sciences, Department of Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Opole, Oleska 48, 45-052 Opole, Poland
Iwona Wertel
Independent Laboratory of Cancer Diagnostics and Immunology, Department of Oncological Gynaecology and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lublin, Chodźki 4a, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
Tumour growth and metastasis are specific to advanced stages of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Tumour angiogenesis is an essential part of these processes. It is responsible for providing tumours with nutrients, metabolites, and cytokines and facilitates tumour and immune cell relocation. Destabilised vasculature, a distinctive feature of tumours, is also responsible for compromising drug delivery into the bulk. Angiogenesis is a complex process that largely depends on how the tumour microenvironment (TME) is composed and how a specific organ is formed. There are contrary reports on whether Tie-2-expressing monocytes/macrophages (TEMs) reported as the proangiogenic population of monocytes have any impact on tumour development. The aim of this paper is to summarise knowledge about ovarian-cancer-specific angiogenesis and the unique role of Tie-2-expressing monocytes/macrophages in this process. The significance of this cell subpopulation for the pathophysiology of EOC remains to be investigated.
