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Review
. 2022 Aug 5:26:347-359.
doi: 10.1016/j.omto.2022.08.005. eCollection 2022 Sep 15.

Extracellular vesicle contents as non-invasive biomarkers in ovarian malignancies

Lindsey A McAlarnen  1 , Prachi Gupta  1 , Reena Singh  2 , Sunila Pradeep  1   3 , Pradeep Chaluvally-Raghavan  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Extracellular vesicle contents as non-invasive biomarkers in ovarian malignancies

Lindsey A McAlarnen et al. Mol Ther Oncolytics. .

Abstract

Ovarian cancer most commonly presents at an advanced stage where survival is approximately 30% compared with >80% if diagnosed and treated before disease spreads. Diagnostic capabilities have progressed from surgical staging via laparotomy to image-guided biopsies and immunohistochemistry staining, along with advances in technology and medicine. Despite improvements in diagnostic capabilities, population-level screening for ovarian cancer is not recommended. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are 40-150 nm structures formed when the cellular lipid bilayer invaginates. These structures function in cell signaling, immune responses, cancer progression, and establishing the tumor microenvironment. EVs are found in nearly every bodily fluid, including serum, plasma, ascites, urine, and effusion fluid, and contain molecular cargo from their cell of origin. This cargo can be analyzed to yield information about a possible malignancy. In this review we describe how the cargo of EVs has been studied as biomarkers in ovarian cancer. We bring together studies analyzing evidence for various cargos as ovarian cancer biomarkers. Then, we describe the role of EVs in modulation of the tumor microenvironment. This review also summarizes the therapeutic and translational potential of EVs for their optimal utilization as non-invasive biomarkers for novel treatments against cancer.

Keywords: biomarkers; epithelial cancer; extracellular vesicles; liquid biopsy; ovarian cancer; solid tumor; tumor microenvironment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1
Timeline indicating the development of methods for diagnosis and screening of ovarian cancer,
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schema depicts how exosome-carrying agents were employed as a biomarker using non-invasive methods
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schema shows the application of EVs for the delivery of targeted agents for cancer therapy
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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