Ovarian Cancer - Current Status of Blood Biomarker and Imaging Screening Strategies

Abstract

Ovarian cancer is most lethal of all the gynecologic malignancies and the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in women overall, accounting for about 5% of female cancer deaths. To improve the outcomes, an efficient screening tool for early detection of the disease at an earlier, curable stage would be required. Since the vast majority of ovarian cancer cases are sporadic in nature with relatively low incidence, a screening test has to offer very high specificity to avoid unnecessary interventions in false-positive cases to be considered suitable for general population use. Another approach to screening would entail increasing the pretest likelihood by focusing on patients at increased risk only. Several larger scale, randomized controlled trials are working on establishing screening strategies for the general population with the most promising results so far shown by the United Kingdom Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS), which revealed improvement in survival rates and reduction in mortality within screened patients. However, more data is required to establish the benefits, warranting further validation. Currently, research is ongoing on OC screening benefits and developing a suitable algorithm in order to have better patient outcomes. In this review article, we discuss current updates on OC screening strategies with special focus on novel development in biomarkers and sonography, as screening tools.

Interobserver agreement between eight observers using IOTA simple rules and O-RADS lexicon descriptors for adnexal masses

“…Proper characterization and risk stratification of adnexal masses is important because ovarian cancer is the most lethal of all gynecologic malignancies and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women, with an overall 5-year survival rate of only 46% [14,15]. Ultrasound is the first line initial imaging modality utilized to evaluate the adnexa and to help differentiate benign from malignant ovarian lesions.…”

In Vivo Ultrasound Molecular Imaging in the Evaluation of Complex Ovarian Masses: A Practical Guide to Correlation with Ex Vivo Immunohistochemistry

“…[5,6] Therefore, sensitive, non-invasive screening tools are crucial for improvement in the diagnosis and proper clinical management of OC. [7,8] Different imaging modalities have been proposed for diagnosing OC in clinic. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) have played an important role in staging of OC, evaluation of resectability of tumor before initial surgery and monitoring of neoadjuvant therapy response.…”

“…[ 5,6 ] Therefore, sensitive, non‐invasive screening tools are crucial for improvement in the diagnosis and proper clinical management of OC. [ 7,8 ]…”