A Recipe for Successful Metastasis: Transition and Migratory Modes of Ovarian Cancer Cells

Simple Summary Ovarian cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among women with gynecological cancers. Most of the cases are diagnosed late, at an advanced stage when cancer cells spread to the surrounding tissues and to distant organs. Even though OC metastasis is the main cause of poor clinical outcomes, the understanding of the process remains elusive. This results in a lack of effective treatments for patients with advanced disease. This review focuses on the dissemination routes of OC as well as different transition modes adopted by tumor cells. These migratory modes increase the plasticity of cancer cells and the metastasis rate. Novel drugs, aimed specifically at the mechanisms responsible for the switch between different invasion modes, are promising approaches for OC treatment.Abstract One of the characteristic features of ovarian cancer is its early dissemination. Metastasis and the invasiveness of ovarian cancer are strongly dependent on the phenotypical and molecular determinants of cancer cells. Invasive cancer cells, circulating tumor cells, and cancer stem cells, which are responsible for the metastatic process, may all undergo different modes of transition, giving rise to mesenchymal, amoeboid, and redifferentiated epithelial cells. Such variability is the result of the changing needs of cancer cells, which strive to survive and colonize new organs. This would not be possible if not for the variety of migration modes adopted by the transformed cells. The most common type of metastasis in ovarian cancer is dissemination through the transcoelomic route, but transitions in ovarian cancer cells contribute greatly to hematogenous and lymphatic dissemination. This review aims to outline the transition modes of ovarian cancer cells and discuss the migratory capabilities of those cells in light of the known ovarian cancer metastasis routes.