Lysophosphatidic acid and ovarian cancer

Lysophosphatidic acid(LPA), one of the simplest molecules of phospholipids, exhibits pleiomorphic biological functions. It has been found that lysophosphatidic acid is present at high level in the ascites fluid of ovarian cancer patients and can stimulate the development of cancer cells. The plasma LPA level of the ovarian cancer patients is also significantly higher than that of the controls. In the diagnosis of ovarian cancer, the plasma LPA is more sensitive and specific than that of Ca125. Ovarian cancer cells can secrete LPA and there is an autocrine loop in the cancer cells. LPA can increase the progression of ovarian cancers, resistance to cisplatin and metastasis, so it can affect the prognosis greatly. It indicated that LPA control should be possible to be a novel therapeutics for ovarian cancer.