Research Progress on Exosomes in the Diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer

© 2025 by the Authors. Licensee Whioce Publishing, Singapore. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

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Abstract

Ovarian cancer ranks as the deadliest malignancy among female reproductive system cancers, posing a significant threat to women’s health. Around seven out of ten patients are diagnosed only after reaching progressive disease phases, a phenomenon closely linked to three key factors: the disease’s hidden onset location, lack of early symptoms, and absence of reliable early diagnostic methods. Therefore, identifying early diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets is critical. Exosomes participate in various phases of ovarian tumorigenesis, including transforming normal cells into cancerous cells, immune regulation, invasion, metastasis, drug resistance, and angiogenesis, making them promising biomarkers for early ovarian cancer detection. This review summarizes current research on exosomal long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), miRNAs, and related proteins in ovarian cancer diagnosis. Exosome-based biomarkers have shown potential advantages, including high sensitivity, specificity, stability, and non-invasive accessibility. The study concludes that while exosomes hold significant diagnostic potential for ovarian cancer, additional investigations are required to standardize detection methods, validate clinical applicability, and elucidate underlying molecular mechanisms.

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