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Peer-reviewedCC BYCancers

Ovarian Cyst Fluid as a Resource for Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker Discovery in Ovarian Lesions.

  • Lamia Sabry Aboelnasr1,2
  • Nanki Deol1
  • Yingran Jin Fu1
  • Mona El-Bahrawy1,3
  1. 1Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London W12 0HS, UK.
  2. 2Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Shibin El Kom 32511, Egypt.
  3. 3Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alexandria, Alexandria 21131, Egypt.
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Abstract

Background/objectives

Differentiating benign, borderline, and malignant ovarian cystic lesions before surgery remains challenging, and many women undergo operations for lesions that prove benign. Most cystic lesions contain fluid that lies in direct contact with the lesion and forms part of the tumour microenvironment, potentially concentrating tumour-derived molecules diluted in the circulation. This review presents the current evidence on the value of ovarian cyst fluid analysis for the discovery of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers across benign, borderline, and malignant lesions.Methods

We reviewed studies analysing ovarian cyst fluid using proteomic, glycoproteomic, metabolomic, inflammatory, and tumour-DNA approaches, together with conventional biomarkers and cytology, and considered pre-analytical and methodological factors affecting their interpretation.Results

Cyst fluid harbours proteins, glycoproteins, metabolites, cytokines, and DNA with tumour-specific mutations, frequently at concentrations exceeding those in matched serum. Multiple candidates discriminate malignant from benign lesions, and borderline lesions often show intermediate signatures. No single marker outperforms established CA125-based protocols, but multi-marker and multi-omics combinations have shown improved diagnostic performance within individual studies.Conclusions

Ovarian cyst fluid is a biologically enriched, underexploited substrate and a potential adjunct to existing diagnostic pathways. Realising its clinical potential will require standardised pre-analytics, validated multi-analyte panels, and prospective studies addressing clinical utility and reproducibility.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{aboelnasr2026ovarian,
  title = {{Ovarian Cyst Fluid as a Resource for Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker Discovery in Ovarian Lesions.}},
  author = {Lamia Sabry Aboelnasr and Nanki Deol and Yingran Jin Fu and Mona El-Bahrawy},
  journal = {Cancers},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3390/cancers18193182},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42882875},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Ovarian Cyst Fluid as a Resource for Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker Discovery in Ovarian Lesions.
AU  - Lamia Sabry Aboelnasr
AU  - Nanki Deol
AU  - Yingran Jin Fu
AU  - Mona El-Bahrawy
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/02
JO  - Cancers
DO  - 10.3390/cancers18193182
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42882875
AB  - Background/objectives  Differentiating benign, borderline, and malignant ovarian cystic lesions before surgery remains challenging, and many women undergo operations for lesions that prove benign. Most cystic lesions contain fluid that lies in direct contact with the lesion and forms part of the tumour microenvironment, potentially concentrating tumour-derived molecules diluted in the circulation. This review presents the current evidence on the value of ovarian cyst fluid analysis for the discovery of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers across benign, borderline, and malignant lesions.Methods  We reviewed studies analysing ovarian cyst fluid using proteomic, glycoproteomic, metabolomic, inflammatory, and tumour-DNA approaches, together with conventional biomarkers and cytology, and considered pre-analytical and methodological factors affecting their interpretation.Results  Cyst fluid harbours proteins, glycoproteins, metabolites, cytokines, and DNA with tumour-specific mutations, frequently at concentrations exceeding those in matched serum. Multiple candidates discriminate malignant from benign lesions, and borderline lesions often show intermediate signatures. No single marker outperforms established CA125-based protocols, but multi-marker and multi-omics combinations have shown improved diagnostic performance within individual studies.Conclusions  Ovarian cyst fluid is a biologically enriched, underexploited substrate and a potential adjunct to existing diagnostic pathways. Realising its clinical potential will require standardised pre-analytics, validated multi-analyte panels, and prospective studies addressing clinical utility and reproducibility.
SN  - 2072-6694
ER  -