Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Headington, Oxford OX3 0BP, U.K.
Laboratory of Medical Genomics, A.C. Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Biochem Soc Trans. 2019 Feb 28;47(1):295-304. doi: 10.1042/BST20180286. Epub 2019 Jan 30.
Ovarian cancer (OC) is the deadliest gynecological malignancy. Most patients are diagnosed when they are already in the later stages of the disease. Earlier detection of OC dramatically improves the overall survival, but this is rarely achieved as there is a lack of clinically implemented biomarkers of early disease. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small cell-derived vesicles that have been extensively studied in recent years. They contribute to various aspects of cancer pathology, including tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis. EVs are released from all cell types and the macromolecular cargo they carry reflects the content of the cells from which they were derived. Cancer cells release EVs with altered cargo into biofluids, and so, they represent an excellent potential source of novel biomarkers for the disease. In this review, we describe the latest developments in EVs as potential biomarkers for earlier detection of OC. The field is still relatively young, but many studies have shown that EVs and the cargo they carry, including miRNAs and proteins, can be used to detect OC. They could also give insights into the stage of the disease and predict the likely therapeutic outcome. There remain many challenges to the use of EVs as biomarkers, but, through ongoing research and innovation in this exciting field, there is great potential for the development of diagnostic assays in the clinic that could improve patient outcome.
卵巢癌（OC）是最致命的妇科恶性肿瘤。大多数患者在疾病晚期被诊断出来。OC 的早期检测显著提高了整体生存率，但由于缺乏临床实施的早期疾病生物标志物，这很少实现。细胞外囊泡（EVs）是近年来广泛研究的小细胞衍生囊泡。它们促进了癌症病理学的各个方面，包括肿瘤生长、血管生成和转移。EVs 由所有细胞类型释放，它们携带的大分子货物反映了它们来源细胞的内容。癌细胞将改变货物的 EVs 释放到生物流体中，因此，它们是疾病新型生物标志物的绝佳潜在来源。在这篇综述中，我们描述了 EVs 作为 OC 早期检测潜在生物标志物的最新进展。该领域还相对较年轻，但许多研究表明，EVs 及其携带的货物，包括 miRNA 和蛋白质，可用于检测 OC。它们还可以深入了解疾病的阶段，并预测可能的治疗结果。将 EVs 用作生物标志物仍然存在许多挑战，但通过在这个令人兴奋的领域进行持续的研究和创新，开发出能够改善患者预后的临床诊断检测方法具有巨大潜力。
