Detection of phosphatidylserine-positive exosomes as a diagnostic marker for ovarian malignancies: a proof of concept study.

ABSTRACT: There are no suitable screening modalities for ovarian carcinomas (OC) and repeated imaging and CA-125 levels are often needed to triage equivocal ovarian masses. Definitive diagnosis of malignancy, however, can only be established by histologic confirmation. Thus, the ability to detect OC at early stages is low, and most cases are diagnosed as advanced disease. Since tumor cells expose phosphatidylserine (PS) on their plasma membrane, we predicted that tumors might secrete PS-positive exosomes into the bloodstream that could be a surrogate biomarker for cancer. To address this, we developed a highly stringent ELISA that detects picogram quantities of PS in patient plasma. Blinded plasma from 34 suspect ovarian cancer patients and 10 healthy subjects were analyzed for the presence of PS-ex

SUBMITTER: Lea J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5362413 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature