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Review
. 2020 Nov 24;11(11):868-889.
doi: 10.5306/wjco.v11.i11.868.

Liquid biopsy in ovarian cancer: Catching the silent killer before it strikes

Laura Feeney  1 , Ian Jg Harley  2 , W Glenn McCluggage  3 , Paul B Mullan  1 , James P Beirne  4
Affiliations
Review

Liquid biopsy in ovarian cancer: Catching the silent killer before it strikes

Laura Feeney et al. World J Clin Oncol. .

Abstract

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most lethal gynaecological malignancy in the western world. The majority of women presenting with the disease are asymptomatic and it has been dubbed the "silent killer". To date there is no effective minimally invasive method of stratifying those with the disease or screening for the disease in the general population. Recent molecular and pathological discoveries, along with the advancement of scientific technology, means there is a real possibility of having disease-specific liquid biopsies available within the clinical environment in the near future. In this review we discuss these discoveries, particularly in relation to the most common and aggressive form of EOC, and their role in making this possibility a reality.

Keywords: Biomarker discovery; Circulating tumor DNA; Epithelial ovarian cancer; Liquid biopsy; Molecular profile; Precision medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts to report.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Histopathological assessment of high-grade serous carcinoma. The classical appearance on hematoxylin and eosin with intermediate sized tumor cells, marked nuclear atypia, and necrotic areas. Immunostaining with WT1, PAX8, P16, and P53 assist with the diagnosis. Interestingly WT1 staining helps discriminate between high-grade serous carcinoma and pseudo-endometrioid (bottom left) (Original figure, images courtesy of Professor McCluggage WG).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The difference between liquid and traditional tissue biopsy (Original figure).
Figure 3
Figure 3
The extraction of circulating tumor cells can be undertaken by a range of methods (reproduced from Broncy et al[166] 2018 under CC BY-NC 4.0). RCC: Renal cell carcinoma.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Potential liquid biopsy sources (blood, uterine/cervical aspirates) and downstream clinical applications within epithelial ovarian cancer (reproduced from Muinelo-Romay et al[167] 2018 under CC BY-NC 4.0).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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