Ovarian Cancer Recurrence and Early Detection: May HE4 Play a Key Role in This Open Challenge? A Systematic Review of Literature

Overview

Journal Med Oncol

Publisher Springer

Specialty Oncology

Date 2017 Aug 22

PMID 28825178

Citations 31

Authors

Stella Capriglione

Daniela Luvero

Francesco Plotti

Corrado Terranova

Roberto Montera

Giuseppe Scaletta

Teresa Schiro

Gianmarco Rossini

Pierluigi Benedetti Panici

Roberto Angioli

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Despite the improvement in overall survival for ovarian cancer (OC) patients, a fraction of patients with advanced-stage disease fails to respond to primary therapy and relapses in 70% of cases. For this reason, new predictive and monitoring tools are needed to identify OC recurrence and new biomarkers were studied, among which human epididymis 4 (HE4), primarily expressed in the reproductive and respiratory tracts, is one of the most promising, reporting a good sensitivity and specificity in detecting OC, overcoming the traditional role of carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA-125). In this review, we aim to discuss the latest evidence reported in the literature about the use of HE4 to monitor ovarian cancer treatment and to detect OC recurrence. We searched MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, IBECS, BIOSIS, Web of Science, SCOPUS, congress abstracts, and Grey literature (Google Scholar; British Library) from January 1952 to June 2017. The search identified seven papers in line with eligibility criteria for this systematic review; all of them demonstrated a good performance of HE4 in OC recurrence. The challenge to anticipate the diagnosis of OC recurrence and to translate this early diagnosis of relapse in a survival and quality of life improvement is still open, and as reported in this review, HE4 may play a key role in this scenario. More studies are needed to validate and reinforce the role of HE4 in ovarian cancer recurrence and in its early detection.

Citing Articles

The Role of HE4 in the Follow-Up of Advanced Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, and Primary Peritoneal Cancer-CEEGOG OX-01 Study.

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The Influence of Inflammatory and Nutritional Status on the Long-Term Outcomes in Advanced Stage Ovarian Cancer.

Bacalbasa N, Petrea S, Gaspar B, Pop L, Varlas V, Hasegan A Cancers (Basel). 2024; 16(14).

PMID: 39061143 PMC: 11274520. DOI: 10.3390/cancers16142504.

Efficacy and safety of PARP inhibitors combined with antiangiogenic agents in the maintenance treatment of ovarian cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis with trial sequential analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Wei Y, He L, Liu T, Guo T, Xie C, Jia J Front Pharmacol. 2024; 15:1372077.

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Evaluation of follow-up strategies for women with epithelial ovarian cancer following completion of primary treatment.

Zachou G, El-Khouly F, Dilley J Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2023; 8:CD006119.

PMID: 37650760 PMC: 10471005. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006119.pub4.

Are ROMA and HE4 More Accurate than CA-125, in Predicting of Ovarian Epithelial Carcinoma?.

Behnamfar F, Zafarbakhsh A, Ahmadian N Adv Biomed Res. 2023; 12:156.

PMID: 37564454 PMC: 10410412. DOI: 10.4103/abr.abr_264_22.

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