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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Obstet Gynecol. Feb 10, 2016; 5(1): 39-49
Published online Feb 10, 2016. doi: 10.5317/wjog.v5.i1.39
Pathobiological role of MUC16 mucin (CA125) in ovarian cancer: Much more than a tumor biomarker
Alain Piché
Alain Piché, Département de Microbiologie et Infectiologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke J1H 5N1, Canada
Author contributions: Piché A wrote the paper.
Supported by Internal Funding from Université de Sherbrooke.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Author declares no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Alain Piché, MD, Département de Microbiologie et Infectiologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Sherbrooke, 3001, 12ième Avenue Nord, Sherbrooke J1H 5N1, Canada. alain.piche@usherbrooke.ca
Telephone: +1-819-3461110-75734 Fax: +1-819-5645392
Received: August 24, 2015
Peer-review started: August 28, 2015
First decision: November 6, 2015
Revised: November 11, 2015
Accepted: December 8, 2015
Article in press: December 11, 2015
Published online: February 10, 2016
Processing time: 159 Days and 21.8 Hours
Abstract

MUC16 (CA125) has remained the mainstay for ovarian cancer assessment and management since the early 1980’s. With the exception of HE4, it is the only reliable serum biomarker for ovarian cancer. MUC16 belongs to a family of high-molecular weight glycoproteins known as mucins. The mucin family is comprised of large secreted transmembrane proteins that includes MUC1, MUC4 and MUC16. These mucins are often overexpressed in a variety of malignancies. MUC1 and MUC4 have been shown to contribute to breast and pancreatic tumorigenesis. Recent studies have uncovered unique biological functions for MUC16 that go beyond its role as a biomarker for ovarian cancer. Here, we provide an overview of the literature to highlight the importance of MUC16 in ovarian cancer tumorigenesis. We focus on the growing literature describing the role of MUC16 in proliferation, migration, metastasis, tumorigenesis and drug resistance. Accumulating experimental evidence suggest that the C-terminal domain of MUC16 is critical to mediate theses effects. The importance of MUC16 in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer emphasizes the need to fully understand the signaling capabilities of MUC16 C-terminal domain to develop more efficient strategies for the successful treatment of ovarian cancer.

Keywords: MUC16; CA125; Mucin; Ovarian cancer; Tumorigenesis; Biomarker

Core tip: MUC16/CA125 has been a mainstay biomarker for ovarian cancer but its pathobiological role has remained mostly unknown. Recent literature has shown that MUC16 is much more than a biomarker. MUC16 has oncogenic properties and plays an important role in tumorigenesis. Here, we will review the current knowledge regarding the oncogenic role of MUC16.