Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Mar 6;9(1):FSO833.
doi: 10.2144/fsoa-2022-0032. eCollection 2023 Jan.

Exosomes as crucial emerging tools for intercellular communication with therapeutic potential in ovarian cancer

Shika Hanif Malgundkar  1 , Yahya Tamimi  1
Affiliations
Review

Exosomes as crucial emerging tools for intercellular communication with therapeutic potential in ovarian cancer

Shika Hanif Malgundkar et al. Future Sci OA. .

Abstract

More than two-thirds of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients are diagnosed at advanced stages due to the lack of sensitive biomarkers. Currently, exosomes are intensively investigated as non-invasive cancer diagnostic markers. Exosomes are nanovesicles released in the extracellular milieu with the potential to modulate recipient cells' behavior. EOC cells release many altered exosomal cargoes that exhibit clinical relevance to tumor progression. Exosomes represent powerful therapeutic tools (drug carriers or vaccines), posing a promising option in clinical practice for curing EOC in the near future. In this review, we highlight the importance of exosomes in cell-cell communication, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and their potential to serve as diagnostic and prognostic factors, particularly in EOC.

Keywords: biomarkers; cell-free messengers; exosomes; molecular cargo; ovarian cancer.

Plain language summary

Exosomes are nanovesicles released in the extracellular milieu by diverse cell types and serve as carriers of proteins, and nucleic acids, with the potential to modulate the recipient cells. Understanding the functions of exosomes as messengers between cancer and healthy cells unfolds new avenues in intercellular signaling mechanisms. In this review, we have highlighted the importance of exosomes in cell–cell communication and their potential to serve as diagnostic and prognostic factors in EOC. Furthermore, we believe that exosomes could represent a powerful therapeutic tool due to their ability to function as drug carriers or vaccines posing a promising option in curing EOC.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Representation of the structure of exosomes enclosing nucleic acids, and proteins as potential biomarkers in cancer.
Created with BioRender.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Le Page C, Provencher D, Maugard CM, Ouellet V, Mes-Masson A-M. Signature of a silent killer: expression profiling in epithelial ovarian cancer. Expert Rev. Mol. Diagn. 4(2), 157–167 (2004). - PubMed
    1. Coticchia CM, Yang J, Moses MA. Ovarian cancer biomarkers: current options and future promise. J. Natl Compr. Canc. Netw. 6(8), 795–802 (2008). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Reid BM, Permuth JB, Sellers TA. Epidemiology of ovarian cancer: a review. Cancer Biol. Med. 14(1), 9–32 (2017). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Matulonis UA, Sood AK, Fallowfield L, Howitt BE, Sehouli J, Karlan BY. Ovarian cancer. Nat. Rev. Dis. Primer. 2, 16061 (2016). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Agarwal R, Kaye SB. Ovarian cancer: strategies for overcoming resistance to chemotherapy. Nat. Rev. Cancer. 3(7), 502–516 (2003). - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources