Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in the Female Reproductive Tract: From Normal Functioning to Disease Pathology

Olena Bilyk, Mackenzie Coatham, Michael Jewer, Lynne-Marie Postovit, Lynne‐Marie Postovit
Frontiers in oncology · 2017 · vol. 7 , pp. 145 · doi:10.3389/fonc.2017.00145 · PMID:28725636 · PMC5497565 · W2733082701
review OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 39 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-10 ⓘ

This review examines the critical role of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in the female reproductive tract for normal development and function, and how its dysregulation contributes to conditions like endometriosis, adenomyosis, and cancer.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-10 ⓘ

This paper is a narrative review that examines how epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) functions in the female reproductive tract and how its dysregulation contributes to disease, with detailed discussion of ovarian and endometrial carcinomas and how EMT relates to cancer plasticity, therapy resistance, and metastasis. It synthesizes evidence that tumor microenvironment factors such as hypoxia, chemotherapy pressure, and stromal/immune/vascular components can drive EMT and intratumoral heterogeneity, and it describes major limitations of the mechanistic framing typical of reviews—namely reliance on existing literature rather than new experimental validation. The authors outline EMT hallmark molecular changes (e.g., loss of epithelial adhesion proteins like E-cadherin and gain of mesenchymal markers such as vimentin) and connect EMT to cancer stem cell traits and aggressive phenotypes, including undifferentiated endometrial carcinoma behavior. Relevance to endometriosis and adenomyosis: the review explicitly links dysregulated EMT to both endometriosis and adenomyosis as well as cancer development in the ovary and uterus, while primarily focusing on EMT in ovarian and endometrial cancers.

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Abstract

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a physiological process that is vital throughout the human lifespan. In addition to contributing to the development of various tissues within the growing embryo, EMT is also responsible for wound healing and tissue regeneration later in adulthood. In this review, we highlight the importance of EMT in the development and normal functioning of the female reproductive organs (the ovaries and the uterus) and describe how dysregulation of EMT can lead to pathological conditions, such as endometriosis, adenomyosis, and carcinogenesis. We also summarize the current literature relating to EMT in the context of ovarian and endometrial carcinomas, with a particular focus on how molecular mechanisms and the tumor microenvironment can govern cancer cell plasticity, therapy resistance, and metastasis.

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Condition tags

endometriosisadenomyosis

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License: CC0 · commercial use OK