CircRNA-regulated glucose metabolism in ovarian cancer: an emerging landscape for therapeutic intervention

Ovarian cancer (OC) has the highest mortality rate among female reproductive system tumours, with limited efficacy of traditional treatments and 5-year survival rates that rarely exceed 40%. Circular RNA (circRNA) is a stable endogenous circular RNA that typically regulates protein expression by binding to downstream miRNA. It has been demonstrated that circRNAs play an important role in the proliferation, migration, and glucose metabolism (such as the Warburg effect) of OC and can regulate the expression of glucose metabolism-related proteins such as GLUT1 and HK2, promoting anaerobic glycolysis of cancer cells, increasing glucose uptake and ATP production, and affecting energy supply and biosynthetic substances to support tumour growth and invasion. This review summarises the formation and characteristics of circRNAs and focuses on their role in regulating glucose metabolism in OC cells and their potential therapeutic value, providing insights for identifying new therapeutic targets.