University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Hillman Cancer Center, 5117 Centre Avenue 1.18, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Future Oncol. 2012 Jan;8(1):55-71. doi: 10.2217/fon.11.135.
The goal of effective population-based screening for ovarian cancer remains elusive despite intense efforts aimed at improving upon biomarker and imaging modalities. While dozens of potential serum biomarkers for ovarian cancer have been identified in recent years, none have yet overcome the limitations that have hindered the clinical use of CA-125. Avenues of opportunity in biomarker development are emerging as investigators are beginning to appreciate the significance of remote, as well as local or regional, sources of biomarkers in the construction of diagnostic panels, as well as the importance of evaluating biomarkers in prediagnostic settings. As the list of candidate biomarkers of ovarian cancer continues to grow, refinements in the methods through which specific proteins are selected for further development as components of diagnostic panels are desperately sought. Such refinements must take into account both the bioinformatic and biological significance of each candidate. Approaches incorporating these considerations may potentially overcome the challenges to early detection posed by the histological heterogeneity of ovarian cancer. Here, we review the recent progress achieved in efforts to develop diagnostic biomarker panels for ovarian cancer and discuss the challenges that remain.
尽管人们为改善生物标志物和成像方式做出了巨大努力，但针对卵巢癌的有效基于人群的筛查目标仍然难以实现。虽然近年来已经确定了数十种潜在的卵巢癌血清生物标志物，但没有一种能够克服阻碍 CA-125 临床应用的局限性。随着研究人员开始认识到远程以及局部或区域性生物标志物来源在构建诊断面板中的重要性，以及在诊断前环境中评估生物标志物的重要性，生物标志物开发的机会正在出现。随着卵巢癌候选生物标志物的清单不断增加，人们迫切需要改进选择特定蛋白质进一步开发为诊断面板组件的方法，以提高其特异性。这种改进必须考虑每个候选物的生物信息学和生物学意义。结合这些考虑因素的方法可能会克服卵巢癌组织学异质性对早期检测带来的挑战。在这里，我们回顾了在开发卵巢癌诊断生物标志物面板方面取得的最新进展，并讨论了仍然存在的挑战。
