Peritoneal Immune System in Patients with Advance Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

The development of epithelial ovarian cancer is associated with changes in the peritoneal cavity microenvironment. Tumor cells produce different factors, which impairs differentiation, maturation, and function of antigen-presenting cells. In this review, we focus on selected cell populations in the peritoneal cavity immune system and their potential role in epithelial ovarian cancer immunopathogenesis. We devote most attention to dendritic cells because they are considered to be superior in their antigen-presenting ability, compared with both macrophages and B lymphocytes. We also present a brief characterization of tumor-infiltraiting cells in epithelial ovarian cancer patients.

Keywords :

• ovarian cancer
• peritoneal cavity
• dendritic cells
• tumor-infiltrating cells

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The study was partially supported by the State Committee for Scientific Research, Warsaw, Poland, Grant #NN 407 038537 and NN407 114036.