Cellular plasticity, by large, is the ability through which cells morph into new phenotypic identity by trading-off with the previous one. This phenomenon has been observed in the normal and tumor cells in a very similar fashion. Occurrence of cellular plasticity, in malignancies like epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) are well known but highly debated in terms of origin of the tumor for the inherent heterogeneity across subtypes. EOC has been termed as a clinically challenging malady for its subversive nature against chemotherapy. The management of ovarian cancer is mostly hindered by relapse with recalcitrance towards primary chemotherapy regimen e.g. platinum–taxol combination. Also, late detection preceded by peritoneal metastasis poses another challenge to the treatment. Underlying both these aspects of the disease, tumor heterogeneity turns out as the most critical factor. In the light of heterogeneity that can be across patients (inter-tumoral) and/or within a tumor (intra-tumoral), ovarian carcinoma is a multifactorial ailment. The governing factors behind this heterogeneity are—diverse genetic landscape among subtypes of EOC; the presence of cancer stem cell (CSC) niche and inherent plasticity of the cancer cells themselves. Apart from the well-studied mechanisms of plasticity, there are several emerging molecular players like lncRNAs, Hippo pathway and also phenomena like dedifferentiation of non-CSC neoplastic cells ,and transdifferentiation of CSCs. Here, we present an overview of the current knowledge on the evolution of EOC through cellular plasticity with emphasis on the three major aspects namely, subtype-specific genetic diversity; ovarian CSC and cancer cell duality between epithelial and mesenchymal lineages.

中文翻译：

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卵巢癌的可塑性：分子基础和表型异质性

总的来说，细胞可塑性是细胞通过与前一个表型进行权衡而转变为新表型身份的能力。这种现象已经以非常相似的方式在正常细胞和肿瘤细胞中观察到。在上皮性卵巢癌 (EOC) 等恶性肿瘤中，细胞可塑性的发生是众所周知的，但由于亚型之间固有的异质性，在肿瘤起源方面存在很大争议。EOC 因其对化疗的颠覆性性质而被称为临床上具有挑战性的疾病。卵巢癌的治疗主要受到复发以及对初级化疗方案（例如铂-紫杉醇组合）的顽固性的阻碍。此外，腹膜转移之前的晚期检测对治疗提出了另一个挑战。在疾病的这两个方面的基础上，肿瘤异质性被证明是最关键的因素。鉴于患者之间（肿瘤间）和/或肿瘤内（肿瘤内）的异质性，卵巢癌是一种多因素疾病。这种异质性背后的控制因素是——EOC 亚型之间的不同遗传景观；癌症干细胞 (CSC) 生态位的存在和癌细胞本身的固有可塑性。除了已充分研究的可塑性机制外，还有一些新兴的分子参与者，如 lncRNA、Hippo 通路以及非 CSC 肿瘤细胞的去分化和 CSC 的转分化等现象。在这里，我们概述了关于 EOC 通过细胞可塑性进化的当前知识，重点是三个主要方面，即亚型特异性遗传多样性；