Cancer research in recent years has immensely benefited from the development of novel technologies that enable scientists to perform detailed investigations of genomes, transcriptomes,
proteomes, and metabolomes. This has invariably furthered knowledge of
tumorigenesis and etiology of
cancer. The resulting information can, in the foreseeable future, effect a significant change in the pace of
cancer research, thereby producing improvements in patient care.
Ovarian cancer in particular has received the interest of the scientific community, being the most frequent cause of death from gynecological
cancers, characterized by few early symptoms, diagnosis at an advanced stage, as well as poor prognosis.
Ovarian cancer is a
malignancy in which normal ovarian cells begin to grow in an uncontrolled, abnormal manner and produce
tumors in one or both ovaries. Epithelial
cancers, the most common
ovarian cancers (>80%), develop from cells lining the ovarian surface. Most
ovarian cancer research is primarily focused on the early detection and treatment of
epithelial ovarian cancer, the more common ovarian
malignancy. This review offers an introduction to
ovarian cancer, with particular emphasis on human
epithelial ovarian cancer. Current methods of detection and
therapy are discussed. A survey of promising new
protein, gene, and metabolite
biomarkers on the horizon is provided. Future prospects for improved diagnosis are offered.