Clinical Diagnostic Marker for Early Detection of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: Classical biomarkers and MicroRNAs

Abstract

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is one of the poorest prognostic types of all gynecologic cancers. In this type of cancer, more than 70% of women are diagnosed at an advanced stage. The asymptomatic nature of ovarian cancer is the main impediment in the early detection of the disease, which invariably increases the mortality rate. The current screening modalities of EOC include transvaginal ultrasound, pelvic mass examination, and detection of serum biomarker CA125 which lack higher accuracy in diagnosing ovarian cancer at an early stage. The recent studies emphasize the use of combinations of multiple biomarkers which increase the sensitivity and specificity for early diagnosis of this cancer. Much attention and importancenow days has been given on studying the involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs)in different cancer pathogenesis and also as a prognostic marker. Recent researches emphasize on identifying several miRNAs to be associated with the specific EOC stage and the EOC histotypes. This review summarizes the importance and current challenges in the screening of ovarian cancer by biomarkers such as CA125, HE4, and miRNAs with particular emphasis on diagnosis of the disease at an early stage.