full free access: Journal of Oncology — Review Article: Potential Markers for Detection & Monitoring of Ovarian Cancer Feb 8, 2011

  Note:  pdf file


Conclusions and Emerging Trends in Biomarkers for Ovarian Cancer

"The ultimate aim of effective screening techniques is to bring about a reduction in mortality form ovarian cancer. As early detection continues to be vital in ovarian cancer patients, biomarkers may hold the key to unlocking effective screening strategies for the general population. It is also important to identify screening techniques with low false positive rates and high positive predictive value so that the number of negative surgical interventions can be minimized. Since our currently available single markers are not highly sensitive or specific, a combination of markers may be utilized as a profile for risk assessment. The current problem with screening panels is that the improvement in sensitivity usually correlates with a decrease in specificity, making the target positive predictive value hard to obtain. The multimodal screening profiles of the genetic markers could be utilized in the future for risk assessment, early diagnosis, prognosis and response to therapeutic treatment. Recent literature reports state that the screening is only recommended for the high risk population identified as those with a family history of the disease, women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, or with hereditary non polyposis colorectal cancer. Recent literature reports also emphasize that the different subtypes of ovarian cancer may have different genetic biomarker expression profiles. Current randomized controlled screening trials are directed towards finding the best molecular and genetic markers for the specific histology of the ovarian tumor with the most impact on reduction in morbidity and mortality. The tumor markers identified in these trials may also lead to novel targets for antitumor therapy."