Reducing Ovarian Cancer Mortality Through Early Detection: Approaches Using Circulating Biomarkers

Abstract

More than two-thirds of all women diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) will die from the disease (>14,000 deaths annually), a fact that has not changed considerably in the last three decades. Although the 5-year survival rates for most other solid tumors have improved steadily, ovarian cancer remains an exception, making it the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers and five times deadlier than breast cancer. When diagnosed early, treatment is more effective, with a 5-year survival rate of up to 90%. Unfortunately, most cases are not detected until after the cancer has spread, resulting in a dismal 5-year survival rate of less than 30%. Current screening methods for ovarian cancer typically use a combination of a pelvic examination, transvaginal ultrasonography, and serum cancer antigen 125 (CA125), but these have made minimal impact on improving mortality. Thus, there is a compelling unmet need to develop new molecular tools that can be used to diagnose early-stage EOC and/or assist in the clinical management of the disease after a diagnosis, given that more than 220,000 women are living with ovarian cancer in the United States and are at risk of recurrence. Here, we discuss the state of advancing liquid-based approaches for improving the early detection of ovarian cancer.See all articles in this Special Collection Honoring Paul F. Engstrom, MD, Champion of Cancer Prevention

Circ_0015756 promotes the progression of ovarian cancer by regulating miR-942-5p/CUL4B pathway

“…Recently, circRNAs have become a hot spot in the field of tumor research. Since most OC patients are diagnosed at the advanced stage, the five-year survival rate is less than 30% [ 17 ]. Hence, exploring new treatment strategies and prognostic indicators is crucial for the clinical efficacy of ovarian cancer.…”

3D Bioprinted cancer models: Revolutionizing personalized cancer therapy

“…High grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is the most widespread and aggressive form leading to the majority of advanced ovarian cancer cases [193] . Despite improvements in diagnosis and treatments, 5 years survival rate in ovarian cancer patients is still very low, ∼30% [194] Overall, there are two main types of ovarian cancers classified as Type I and Type II ( Fig. 5 -A,B).…”

Mechanisms of Apoptosis-Related Long Non-coding RNAs in Ovarian Cancer

“…Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most common ovarian cancer (∼90%) ( Rojas et al, 2016 ; Momenimovahed et al, 2019 ). The disease is often advanced at diagnosis due to lack of early symptoms and the 5-year cause-specific survival rate is <50% ( Siegel et al, 2018 ; Torre et al, 2018 ; Trinidad et al, 2020 ). Based on the current limitations, alternative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for ovarian cancer remain to be explored.…”