Although ovarian cancer has a lower prevalence than breast cancer, its mortality rate is three times higher, which is reported to increase in the coming years. As the early stages of ovarian cancer do not have any obvious symptoms, in most of the cases, this cancer is diagnosed at advanced stages with a poor prognosis. Moreover, in many patients who are diagnosed with advanced stage, relapse of the disease and drug resistance are observed. Over the past years, these women have been treated with chemotherapy and cytoreductive surgeries. However, the chemotherapy could affect the healthy tissues in addition to the malignancies. Therefore, discovering new diagnostic and therapeutic options seems to be a crucial need. Unlike the common invasive and/or nonspecific treatments, nanomedicine is trying to find a new way for cancer imaging, diagnosis, and drug delivery method. Nanoparticles (NPs), which has recently drawn attention, can be used in order to reduce the toxicity and frequent dosing of drugs, tumor‐specific delivery, and early diagnosis for malignancies. Chitosan as an NP and product of chitin deacetylation has multiple characteristics, including biocompatibility, biodegradability, and safety. In this review, we cover the studies concerned with the role of chitosan in finding solutions to overcome the problems faced in ovarian cancer treatments. Furthermore, we highlight how chitosan is being used in delivering chemotherapy drugs, gene therapy, and imaging methods for both detection and image‐guided therapies.

中文翻译：

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壳聚糖是卵巢癌的潜在抑制剂：分子方面

尽管卵巢癌的患病率低于乳腺癌，但其死亡率却高出三倍，据报道，未来几年死亡率还会增加。由于卵巢癌的早期阶段没有任何明显的症状，在大多数情况下，这种癌症被诊断为晚期，预后较差。此外，在许多被诊断为晚期的患者中，观察到疾病的复发和耐药性。在过去的几年里，这些女性接受了化疗和细胞减灭术治疗。然而，除了恶性肿瘤之外，化疗还可能影响健康组织。因此，发现新的诊断和治疗选择似乎是一项至关重要的需求。与常见的侵入性和/或非特异性治疗不同，纳米医学正试图为癌症成像、诊断、和给药方法。最近引起关注的纳米颗粒 (NPs) 可用于降低药物的毒性和频繁给药、肿瘤特异性递送和恶性肿瘤的早期诊断。壳聚糖作为纳米粒和甲壳素脱乙酰产物，具有多种特性，包括生物相容性、生物降解性和安全性。在这篇综述中，我们涵盖了有关壳聚糖在寻找解决方案以克服卵巢癌治疗中所面临问题的作用的研究。此外，我们重点介绍了壳聚糖如何用于提供化疗药物、基因治疗和用于检测和图像引导治疗的成像方法。和恶性肿瘤的早期诊断。壳聚糖作为纳米粒和甲壳素脱乙酰产物，具有多种特性，包括生物相容性、生物降解性和安全性。在这篇综述中，我们涵盖了有关壳聚糖在寻找解决方案以克服卵巢癌治疗中所面临问题的作用的研究。此外，我们重点介绍了壳聚糖如何用于提供化疗药物、基因治疗和用于检测和图像引导治疗的成像方法。和恶性肿瘤的早期诊断。壳聚糖作为纳米粒和甲壳素脱乙酰产物，具有多种特性，包括生物相容性、生物降解性和安全性。在这篇综述中，我们涵盖了有关壳聚糖在寻找解决方案以克服卵巢癌治疗中所面临问题的作用的研究。此外，我们重点介绍了壳聚糖如何用于提供化疗药物、基因治疗和用于检测和图像引导治疗的成像方法。