ABSTRACT
Ovarian cancer (OvCa) is the fifth leading cause of tumor-related deaths in the Western world (with little change in its incidence in recent decades) [4], the second most common gynecological carcinoma, and the leading cause of death from gynecological malignancies. In fact, its mortality rate is high, compared to other cancers [52]. Significant contributors to its high mortality rate are the vague or absent symptoms in the early stages of the disease, the lack of reliable tumor markers, and the recurrences, generally fatal, despite good initial responses to chemotherapy. For these reasons, long-term survival is rare since 70% of the patients present at diagnosis extensive and widespread intraperitoneal dissemination throughout the abdomen and the pelvis [62]. The majority (≈ 90%) of ovarian cancer stems from surface epithelium that overlies the ovary [126].
