Authors' objectives: Ovarian cancer has a low prevalence, but it is associated with high mortality.It proceeds with non-specific symptoms that often result in a diagnosis in advanced stages, for that reason early diagnosis continues to be a challenge for the medical profession.The determination of CA-125 is considered the gold standard in the diagnosis, response to treatment and evolution of ovarian cancer in advanced stages, but it is not sufficiently sensitive or specific for the initial stages of the disease.The combined determination, by immunoenzyme techniques, of several serum biomarkers (from 3 to 6) in panels, that also contain CA-125, are proposed as an easily accomplished diagnostic resource that has greater sensitivity and specificity than the single determination of CA-125 in the initial stages of the disease.There is little scientific evidence that assesses the effectiveness of the panels of serum biomarkers in the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer. The recovered articles were case studies and controls of an average methodological quality in those that analysed the sensitivity and specificity of different combinations of ovarian markers.All the considered articles concluded that the combined determination of ovarian serum markers is more appropriate than the single determination in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer in stages I and II. The variability of the analysed markers has not allowed the determination of the most suitable combination to make an early diagnosis.The greatest limitations identified in the recovered studies were the histological heterogeneity of the ovarian cancer in initial stages in the intervention groups, which reduces its prevalence, preventing the gathering of data with sufficient statistical power, and the diversity of studied markers that characterize the different histologies.Only two commercially available panels (OVA1 and OvPlex) were identified, of which it was only possible to obtain the information provided by the laboratories that market them. Works that published results on effectiveness, cost benefit or other types of results were not recovered.The use of serum biomarkers is not useful in screening for ovarian cancer.This new technology is profiled as a possible tool in the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer, but prospective studies are necessary to verify its diagnostic power.

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: https://www.aetsa.org/publicacion/panel-de-biomarcadores-sericos-en-el-diagnostico-precoz-del-cancer-de-ovario/

Year Published: 2010

URL for published report: https://www.aetsa.org/download/publicaciones/antiguas/AETSA_2007_2_19_Biomarcadores.pdf

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: Spain

Organisation Name: Andalusian Health Technology Assessment Area

Contact Address: Area de Evaluacion de Tecnologias Sanitarias Sanitarias de Andalucia (AETSA) Avda. Innovación, s/n Edificio Arena 1. Sevilla (Spain) Tel. +34 955 006 309

Contact Name: aetsa.csalud@juntadeandalucia.es

Contact Email: aetsa.csalud@juntadeandalucia.es

Copyright: Andalusian Agency for Health Technology Assessment (AETSA)