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

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.