Oncofetal Chondroitin Sulfate: A Putative Therapeutic Target in Adult and Pediatric Solid Tumors

• Published in: Cells (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 9; no. 4; p. 818
• Main Authors: Khazamipour, Nastaran, Al-Nakouzi, Nader, Oo, Htoo Zarni, Ørum-Madsen, Maj, Steino, Anne, Sorensen, Poul H, Daugaard, Mads
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 28.03.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Breast cancer; cancer; Cell adhesion & migration; Cell division; Child; Children; Chondroitin sulfate; Chondroitin Sulfates - metabolism; Enzymes; Female; Fetus - metabolism; Glycosaminoglycans; Heparan sulfate; Humans; Immunotherapy; Implantation; Investigations; Liver cancer; Metastases; Metastasis; Molecular Targeted Therapy; Neoplasms - metabolism; oncofetal chondroitin sulfate; Pathogenesis; pediatric cancer; Physiology; Placenta; Placenta - metabolism; Pregnancy; Prostate cancer; Proteins; Proteoglycans; Review; Solid tumors; Stem cells; target; Therapeutic applications; Tumors; VAR2; chondroitin sulfate; cancer; oncofetal chondroitin sulfate; solid tumors; pediatric cancer; target
• ISSN: 2073-4409; 2073-4409
• DOI: 10.3390/cells9040818

Solid tumors remain a major challenge for targeted therapeutic intervention strategies such as antibody-drug conjugates and immunotherapy. At a minimum, clear and actionable solid tumor targets have to comply with the key biological requirement of being differentially over-expressed in solid tumors and metastasis, in contrast to healthy organs. Oncofetal chondroitin sulfate is a cancer-specific secondary glycosaminoglycan modification to proteoglycans expressed in a variety of solid tumors and metastasis. Normally, this modification is found to be exclusively expressed in the placenta, where it is thought to facilitate normal placental implantation during pregnancy. Informed by this biology, oncofetal chondroitin sulfate is currently under investigation as a broad and specific target in solid tumors. Here, we discuss oncofetal chondroitin sulfate as a potential therapeutic target in childhood solid tumors in the context of current knowhow obtained over the past five years in adult cancers.