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Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Strategy for Biobanking of Ovarian Cancer Organoids: Addressing the Interpatient Heterogeneity across Histological Subtypes and Disease Stages
08:26

Strategy for Biobanking of Ovarian Cancer Organoids: Addressing the Interpatient Heterogeneity across Histological Subtypes and Disease Stages

Published on: February 23, 2024

Immunohistochemical and molecular diagnostics tailoring personalised ovarian cancer therapy

Adam Michał Kowalewski1,2, Łukasz Szylberg1,3

  • 1Department of Tumour Pathology, Oncology Centre, Prof. Franciszek Lukaszczyk Memorial Hospital, Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Polish Journal of Pathology : Official Journal of the Polish Society of Pathologists
|July 10, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Biomarker-driven diagnostics, including immunohistochemistry and molecular testing, are revolutionizing ovarian cancer treatment by personalizing care. Future strategies aim to combine multiple biomarkers for improved patient selection and outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Gynaecological Pathology
  • Molecular Diagnostics

Background:

  • Ovarian cancer is a highly lethal gynaecological malignancy with significant heterogeneity.
  • Traditional therapies offer limited survival benefits.
  • Biomarker-driven approaches are transforming treatment paradigms.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review current immunohistochemical (IHC) and molecular diagnostic strategies for ovarian cancer.
  • To highlight key actionable biomarkers and their clinical applications.
  • To discuss limitations and future directions in ovarian cancer diagnostics.

Main Methods:

  • Review of current immunohistochemical (IHC) techniques for histotype classification.
  • Analysis of actionable protein markers (e.g., FRα, HER2, TROP2, MMR proteins, PD-L1).
  • Evaluation of molecular testing including BRCA1/2, homologous recombination deficiency (HRD), and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).

Main Results:

  • Diagnostics guide maintenance therapy with PARP inhibitors in HRD-positive disease.
  • Antibody-drug conjugates like mirvetuximab soravtansine are used in FRα-high platinum-resistant tumors.
  • Limitations include heterogeneity, assay variability, lack of standardization, and unequal access.

Conclusions:

  • Integration of IHC and molecular diagnostics enables personalized ovarian cancer treatment.
  • Future directions involve AI-assisted pathology, composite models, and ctDNA-guided strategies.
  • Refining patient selection through advanced diagnostics is crucial for improving long-term outcomes.
Keywords:
PARP inhibitorsantibody-drug conjugatesfolate receptor homologous recombination deficiencyovarian cancerprecision oncology

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