Clinica Chimica Acta最新文献

{"title":"Electrochemical MicroRNA biosensors for kidney Cancer: From biomarker discovery to point-of-care diagnostics","authors":"Sadegh Zarei ,&nbsp;Seyed Morteza Hosseiniara ,&nbsp;Solmaz Sadat Hosseini Zijoud ,&nbsp;Reza Hosseiniara","doi":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120786","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120786","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Kidney cancer, particularly clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), presents a significant clinical burden due to late-stage detection and limited effectiveness of current diagnostic modalities. Minimally invasive strategies, such as liquid biopsy, have emerged as promising alternatives, with microRNAs (miRNAs) gaining attention as stable, disease-specific biomarkers detectable in biofluids. miRNAs function as oncogenes or tumor suppressors, offering advantages over conventional protein biomarkers in early cancer detection and prognostic assessment. Electrochemical biosensors provide a highly sensitive, rapid, and cost-effective platform for miRNA detection, enabling potential point-of-care applications. Recent advances include the integration of nanomaterials, enzymatic and isothermal amplification methods, and CRISPR-Cas systems to enhance specificity and signal sensitivity. Prototype sensors targeting RCC-relevant miRNAs, multiplexed detection for biomarker panels, and smartphone-compatible platforms demonstrate the feasibility of translating these technologies into clinical practice. Despite challenges in assay standardization, pre-analytical variability, and regulatory pathways, electrochemical miRNA biosensors hold transformative potential for non-invasive RCC diagnostics, treatment monitoring, and precision oncology. Continued innovation and clinical validation may establish these platforms as integral tools for personalized patient management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10205,"journal":{"name":"Clinica Chimica Acta","volume":"582 ","pages":"Article 120786"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145755322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhancing creatinine detection: Innovative biosensors for monitoring kidney function","authors":"Mohammad Mahdi Heidari ,&nbsp;Sepideh Shadravan ,&nbsp;Samira Jafarisis ,&nbsp;Shahab Masoumi ,&nbsp;Shahla Shiri ,&nbsp;Sajjad Jafarzadeh ,&nbsp;Ahmad Mobed","doi":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120789","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120789","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Creatinine is a waste product generated from muscle metabolism, and its levels in the blood and urine serve as key indicators of renal function. Fast and sensitive detection of creatinine is crucial for early diagnosis, monitoring disease progression, and guiding treatment decisions. Recent advancements in nanomaterials have led to the development of innovative biosensors for creatinine monitoring, providing a transformative approach to kidney disease diagnostics. This paper explores the potential of nanomaterial-based biosensors to enhance sensitivity, specificity, and rapid response times in detecting creatinine levels, a critical biomarker for kidney function assessment. We review various nanomaterials, including carbon-based nanostructures, metal nanoparticles, and quantum dots, highlighting their unique electrochemical properties and biocompatibility. These materials exhibit enhanced surface area and reactivity, contributing to improved sensitivity and specificity, thus enabling the identification of lower concentrations of creatinine while minimizing interference from other substances. Furthermore, we discuss the integration of these biosensors into wearable technologies to facilitate continuous monitoring, making early detection of kidney issues more accessible. This advancement empowers patients to monitor their health in real-time while generating valuable data for personalized medicine strategies. Our findings indicate that these novel biosensing platforms not only improve diagnostic accuracy but also play a crucial role in reducing the burden of chronic kidney diseases. In addition, implementing these biosensors could significantly streamline the diagnostic process, allowing for timely interventions. Ultimately, our study underscores the crucial role of innovative biosensing technologies in enhancing renal health management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10205,"journal":{"name":"Clinica Chimica Acta","volume":"582 ","pages":"Article 120789"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145773805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Circulating microRNA electrochemical assays in thyroid cancer","authors":"Muteb Alanazi ,&nbsp;Jowaher Alanazi ,&nbsp;Tareq Nafea Alharby ,&nbsp;Abdullah S. Alhamed ,&nbsp;Sameer Shaikh","doi":"10.1016/j.cca.2026.120828","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cca.2026.120828","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Thyroid cancer is the most prevalent endocrine malignancy; however, it is difficult to preoperatively distinguish between benign and malignant nodules and to ensure reliable surveillance after therapy. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) provide a minimally invasive molecular signal for testing, although conventional qPCR and sequencing pipeline technologies have cost, labor, and standardization challenges. This review summarizes the progress in the electrochemical biosensing of thyroid-relevant miRNAs along sample-to-clinic continuum. Signal recovery is strongly determined by preanalytical variables such as matrix selection (serum, plasma, whole blood, or extracellular vesicles), hemolysis control, storage conditions, extraction chemistry, spike-in controls, and normalization strategy using exogenous and endogenous controls. Yield can be further stabilized by the enrichment of extracellular vesicles, low-input protocols, and the reduction of batch effects. Analytically, voltammetric, impedimetric, electrochemiluminescent, and photoelectrochemical formats use rational probe design with nanostructured interfaces, such as gold nanoparticles, graphene derivatives, and MXenes, along with catalytic amplification duplex-specific nuclease (DSN), hybridization chain reaction (HCR), catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA), or CRISPR modules. While many platforms report ultra-low analytical limits of detection (femtomolar to attomolar) and wide linear ranges in buffer or spiked matrices, fewer studies have established functional sensitivity and clinical detection rates in unprocessed patient serum/plasma, where endogenous inhibitors and biological heterogeneity can dominate performance. Recurring signatures, such as miR-146b, miR-221, miR-222, and miR-21, have been shown to aid in early diagnosis, risk stratification, and postoperative follow-ups, whereas multiplex panels and cartridge-based platforms have been shown to be resilient to biological heterogeneity and complement cytology, mutation panels, and thyroglobulin, particularly in indeterminate Bethesda III or IV nodules and antibody-interfered follow-ups. The remaining limitations are inter-study method variation, poor inter-center validation, and unclear regulatory mechanisms of these miRNAs. An effective roadmap will focus on balanced collection and processing, preset thresholds with external calibration and commutable references, and blind prospective trials integrated into clinical practice with decision curve and health-economic analyses to speed up translation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10205,"journal":{"name":"Clinica Chimica Acta","volume":"582 ","pages":"Article 120828"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145932490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tamm-Horsfall protein biosensors for management of nephrolithiasis","authors":"Waleed Hassan Almalki ,&nbsp;Imran Kazmi ,&nbsp;Alzarea Sami I ,&nbsp;Omar Awad Alsaidan ,&nbsp;A. Rekha ,&nbsp;Nadeem Sayyed ,&nbsp;Surya Nath Pandey ,&nbsp;Sachin Kumar Singh ,&nbsp;Gaurav Gupta ,&nbsp;Salem Salman Almujri","doi":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120810","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120810","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nephrolithiasis is a common urological condition characterized by kidney stone formation and complex metabolic imbalances. Uromodulin (Tamm-Horsfall protein, THP) is the principal urinary glycoprotein and a promising risk-stratifying biomarker and long-term follow-up marker for nephrolithiasis. This review examines the dual action of THP in stone disease. The normal glycosylated form of THP can inhibit the formation of calcium oxalate crystals, whereas structurally modified or hypoglycosylated THP can promote crystal adhesion and aggregation. We provide a critical comparison between conventional immunoassays and emerging THP biosensors with respect to analytical performance, selectivity, and preanalytical requirements for the measurement of urine with reasonable reliability. Electrochemical and optical biosensors, as well as nanomaterials, are increasingly being used in biosensors, with graphene, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), and tantalum oxide. Non-Faradaic impedance (Ta₂O₅-passivated interdigitated electrodes) has been demonstrated to detect a 0.5 ng/mL LOD in artificial urine, and printed impedance sensors and AuNP-based lateral-flow formats have a typical LOD of 25 to 80 ng/mL and have been demonstrated using minimally processed urine (e.g., centrifugation and/or dilution), instead of crude samples. Since urinary THP is usually in the mg L⁻¹ range, sub-ng/mL sensitivity cannot be understood in standard terms of detectability, but in terms of special use-cases (e.g., highly diluted samples, low-THP phenotypes, or quantitative low-end monitoring), it can be detected. In conclusion, we examined several significant limitations to translation, including biological variability (such as hydration status, infection, and circadian variations), the influence of the matrix, the lack of calibration and traceability, and the imperative for prospective clinical validation. Although microfluidics and digital presentation facilitate point-of-care tracking, the integration of AI/ML is not yet prevalent.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10205,"journal":{"name":"Clinica Chimica Acta","volume":"582 ","pages":"Article 120810"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145849115","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Changing in blood cells for infection detection: “Monocyte distribution width” acts as a key determinant in differentiating localized and blood stream infections","authors":"Agostino Ognibene ,&nbsp;Maria Lorubbio ,&nbsp;Sara Montemerani ,&nbsp;Giulio Camarlinghi ,&nbsp;Tommaso Novi ,&nbsp;Claudia Artini ,&nbsp;Eva Maria Parisio ,&nbsp;Raffaella Pavani ,&nbsp;Danilo Tacconi ,&nbsp;Maurizio Zanobetti","doi":"10.1016/j.cca.2026.120819","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cca.2026.120819","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Early identification of bloodstream infections (BSI) in the Emergency Department (ED) remains a clinical challenge. Monocyte Distribution Width (MDW), a novel biomarker available from the complete blood count, was prospectively evaluated for its diagnostic and prognostic utility in patients with suspected infection.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We conducted a prospective, observational cohort study enrolling 608 adult ED patients. Following a comprehensive diagnostic workup, patients were retrospectively adjudicated into three primary groups: No Infection (n = 196), Localized Infection (n = 235), and Bloodstream Infection (BSI) (n = 134). The diagnostic accuracy of MDW was compared to procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>In this cohort, MDW demonstrated high accuracy for BSI detection (Area Under the Curve [AUC] = 0.936), representing a statistically significant improvement over both PCT (AUC = 0.818; p &lt; 0.0001) and CRP (AUC = 0.829; p &lt; 0.0001). It also showed good accuracy in discriminating localized infections from the no-infection group (AUC = 0.748). Notably, among the biomarkers tested, MDW was the only biomarker significantly elevated in non-survivors compared to survivors (p = 0.001), indicating a unique prognostic value for in-hospital mortality.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>In ED patients with suspected infection, MDW is a highly effecti<em>ve biomarker for the early dete</em>tion of BSI, demonstrating significantly higher diagnostic accuracy than PCT and CRP in this study. Its ability to help stratify patients with localized versus systemic infection and to predict mortality makes it a valuable tool for early risk assessment and clinical decision-making.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10205,"journal":{"name":"Clinica Chimica Acta","volume":"582 ","pages":"Article 120819"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145917237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating molecular diagnostics and artificial intelligence in chronic microbial disease","authors":"Bandita Dutta,&nbsp;Rina Ray Ray","doi":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120803","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120803","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Chronic microbial diseases, often driven by biofilm formation, pose a persistent global health burden due to their complex diagnosis, resistance mechanisms, and prolonged disease courses. Conventional diagnostic methods are time-consuming and often insufficient for early, precise detection and prognosis. Recent advances in molecular diagnostics, including PCR, hybridization, next-generation sequencing, and CRISPR-based assays, have enabled rapid, non-invasive, and highly sensitive detection of pathogens and resistance markers. Complementary “omics” technologies, like genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, provide deeper insights into disease pathways, aiding in personalized treatment strategies. Furthermore, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics enhances the interpretation of complex molecular datasets, enabling pattern recognition, risk prediction, and tailored therapeutic decisions. This manuscript reviews current tools and emerging technologies for the diagnosis and prognosis of chronic microbial diseases, highlighting the transformative potential of AI-driven precision medicine to improve patient outcomes through early detection, individualized treatment, and better disease management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10205,"journal":{"name":"Clinica Chimica Acta","volume":"582 ","pages":"Article 120803"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145848962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Non-invasive biological matrices on biosensor design","authors":"Ghada Al-Assi ,&nbsp;Waleed K. Abdulsahib ,&nbsp;Sanan Thaer Abdal-Wahab ,&nbsp;G. Padma Priya ,&nbsp;Subhashree Ray ,&nbsp;Sindu Divakaran ,&nbsp;Gunjan Mukherjee ,&nbsp;Ashish Singh Chauhan ,&nbsp;Gulsara Ruziyeva","doi":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120785","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120785","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A critical factor governing the performance and applicability of the point-of-care (POC) devices is the source of the sample matrix. This review article provides a comprehensive analysis of the various biological matrices utilized in POC biosensor development, evaluating their advantages, limitations, and potential. The traditional invasive sources such as blood offers a rich information profile but presents challenges for continuous monitoring. In contrast, this review emphasizes the growing focus on non-invasive and minimally invasive alternatives, including sweat, saliva, tears, urine, and nasal secretions. Each of these matrices presents a unique composition of biomarkers (e.g., electrolytes, metabolites, hormones, proteins) and distinct challenges related to sample collection, stability, and analyte concentration. The optical and electrochemical methods were utilized to examine these samples. We performed a comprehensive review of the development of POC devices in recent years and assessed their relative merits and drawbacks. Based on the progress of POC development, it illustrates that the various technological and economical requirements are urgent and tremendous. The tendency of high quality, low-cost POC devices, feature of biosensors (paper-based sensor, flexible device, microfluidic chip, et al.) currently widely used in POC and recommendations of future works were summarized.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10205,"journal":{"name":"Clinica Chimica Acta","volume":"582 ","pages":"Article 120785"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145751713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigating the diagnostic significance of serum NRCAM in small cell lung cancer","authors":"Yinyi Chen ,&nbsp;Kexin Han ,&nbsp;Liping Wei ,&nbsp;Xinlu Sun ,&nbsp;Yanzhao Liu ,&nbsp;Qunxia Wang ,&nbsp;Yang Wu ,&nbsp;Simei Chen ,&nbsp;Jianlin Yu ,&nbsp;Yi Luo ,&nbsp;Lili Wen ,&nbsp;Liming Tan","doi":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120815","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120815","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>This study aims to investigate the clinical significance of serum neuronal cell adhesion molecule (NRCAM) in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) diagnosis.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Serum NRCAM levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 80 SCLC patients, 98 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), 73 patients with pulmonary nodules (PN) and 56 healthy controls. Neuron specific enolase (NSE) and progastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP) expression were detected using chemiluminescence immunoassay.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>(1) Significant differences were detected in serum NRCAM, NSE and ProGRP levels among the groups (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05), with the highest levels observed in SCLC patients. (2) Correlation assessment revealed that serum NRCAM concentrations were positively correlated with smoking (<em>r</em> = 0.39) and lymph node metastasis (<em>r</em> = 0.37) (both <em>P</em> &lt; 0.01). (3) NRCAM concentration was positively correlated with the clinical stage of SCLC, being significantly lower in stages I-II compared to stages III-IV (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01), and was remarkably lower in the non-metastatic group of SCLC relative to the metastatic group (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01). (4) Compared to the NSCLC group, ProGRP exhibited the largest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and the highest sensitivity for SCLC diagnosis, with values of 0.86 and 76 %, respectively. NRCAM had the highest specificity for SCLC diagnosis (94 %). Compared to the PN group, NRCAM exhibited a larger AUC (0.81) and higher sensitivity (74 %) for SCLC diagnosis. Conversely, NSE displayed a higher specificity for SCLC diagnosis (93 %). The combined diagnostic approach using NRCAM, NSE, and ProGRP yielded the largest AUC and the highest sensitivity, at 0.94 and 91 %, respectively. (5) Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that smoking and lymph node metastasis were potential risk factors influencing serum NRCAM levels.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>NRCAM possess significant potential for diagnosing SCLC and distinguishing SCLC from NSCLC and PN. Moreover, the combination detection of NRCAM, NSE, and ProGRP may enhance diagnostic performance, offering a novel clinical strategy for SCLC.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10205,"journal":{"name":"Clinica Chimica Acta","volume":"582 ","pages":"Article 120815"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145932493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Myeloperoxidase as a Biomarker in COPD","authors":"A. Rekha ,&nbsp;Gaurav Gupta ,&nbsp;Pareshkumar N. Patel ,&nbsp;Shefali ,&nbsp;G. PadmaPriya ,&nbsp;Laxmidhar Maharana ,&nbsp;Moayad Al Shahwan ,&nbsp;Popat S. Kumbhar ,&nbsp;Keshav Raj Paudel ,&nbsp;Kavita Goyal ,&nbsp;Sachin Kumar Singh ,&nbsp;Kamal Dua","doi":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120799","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120799","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This is a critical review of the myeloperoxidase (MPO) biomarker in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), covering its biological potential, methodology of analysis, and clinical use. Chronic inflammation and oxidative stress mediated by neutrophils are critical processes in COPD, wherein MPO, a heme peroxidase derived from neutrophils, functions as an effector and potentially as a biomarker. Patients with COPD and smokers have a high concentration of MPO in their biological compartments, which correlates with neutrophilic load, oxidative injury, and airflow obstruction. Analytical investigations have shown that it is possible to measure MPO levels in serum, plasma, sputum, and exhaled breath condensate (EBC). Nonetheless, there is significant preanalytical variability, particularly concerning the distinction between serum and plasma. Serum MPO levels are often elevated due to ex vivo neutrophil degranulation during the clotting process, suggesting that plasma may provide a more accurate measure of circulating MPO levels. While MPO shows promise, particularly when integrated into multi-marker panels for inflammatory endotyping and risk stratification, its clinical application remains limited due to the lack of standardized assays and inter-study harmonization of results. This review summarizes the existing evidence of MPO as a biomarker of neutrophil-mediated COPD inflammation, and it can be noted that although biologically plausible, it requires further rigorous standardization and validation of specific matrices (plasma vs. serum) and inclusion into compound biomarker approaches to be translated into clinics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10205,"journal":{"name":"Clinica Chimica Acta","volume":"582 ","pages":"Article 120799"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145803393","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Recent advances in the early detection of ovarian cancer","authors":"Anahita Soleimani ,&nbsp;Akbar Amirfiroozy ,&nbsp;Mohammad M. Pourseif ,&nbsp;Mahmoud Shekari Khaniani","doi":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120797","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cca.2025.120797","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ovarian cancer (OC), predominantly epithelial OC, remains the most lethal gynecological malignancy. Owing to its often asymptomatic or non-specific clinical presentation, approximately 70 % of patients are diagnosed at advanced stages (FIGO III–IV), typically characterized by extensive peritoneal dissemination. Although early detection is critical for improving survival outcomes, current standard diagnostic modalities, including serum CA125 and transvaginal ultrasound, lack sufficient sensitivity and specificity for population-level screening of early-stage disease. This review comprehensively evaluates emerging biomarkers and advanced diagnostic technologies, with a particular focus on liquid biopsy analytes, including circulating tumor DNA, microRNAs, and uterine liquid biopsies. We further discuss the clinical utility of multi-biomarker panels and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven models that integrate genomic, proteomic, and radiomic data, while highlighting their current performance limitations and stage-dependent diagnostic accuracy. Despite the considerable potential of liquid biopsies and AI-based approaches, challenges related to assay standardization and the need for large-scale prospective validation remain major barriers to widespread clinical implementation. Overall, this review underscores the need for robust, multimodal diagnostic strategies that may enable earlier detection and ultimately reduce OC-associated mortality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10205,"journal":{"name":"Clinica Chimica Acta","volume":"582 ","pages":"Article 120797"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145803412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}