卵巢癌造成的死亡人数比任何其他女性生殖道癌症都要多。高死亡率的主要原因包括诊断延迟和耐药性。因此，迫切需要改进卵巢癌的诊断和治疗方案。包括外泌体在内的细胞外囊泡（EV）在诊断和治疗方面都带来了希望。它们是所有细胞类型分泌的天然脂质纳米囊泡，并携带反映母细胞状态的分子。这有利于它们作为早期诊断生物标志物的潜在用途。此外，EVs可以装载外源性货物，并具有高稳定性和良好的药代动力学特性等特点。这使得它们成为生物部分的肿瘤靶向递送的理想选择。国际细胞外囊泡协会 (ISEV) 基于细胞外囊泡研究的最低信息 (MISEV) 建议使用术语“小细胞外囊泡 (sEV)”，其中包括大小为 30-200 nm 的颗粒的外泌体。然而，文献中报道的以及与本综述相关的大多数研究都使用了术语“外泌体”。因此，本综述将使用术语“外泌体”与 sEV 互换，以与文献保持一致并避免读者混淆。这篇综述初步总结了为研究卵巢癌衍生的外泌体而开发的不同分离和检测技术，以及这些外泌体作为早期诊断这种破坏性疾病的生物标志物的潜在用途。它探讨了外泌体内容物在卵巢癌发病机制中的作用，讨论了限制外泌体介导的卵巢癌进展的策略，并提供了使用外泌体进行卵巢癌肿瘤靶向治疗的选择。最后，它阐述了未来的研究方向，并推荐了将外泌体从实验室成功过渡到妇科肿瘤诊所所需的必要研究。© 2024。作者。

Ovarian cancer accounts for more deaths than any other female reproductive tract cancer. The major reasons for the high mortality rates include delayed diagnoses and drug resistance. Hence, improved diagnostic and therapeutic options for ovarian cancer are a pressing need. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), that include exosomes provide hope in both diagnostic and therapeutic aspects. They are natural lipid nanovesicles secreted by all cell types and carry molecules that reflect the status of the parent cell. This facilitates their potential use as biomarkers for an early diagnosis. Additionally, EVs can be loaded with exogenous cargo, and have features such as high stability and favorable pharmacokinetic properties. This makes them ideal for tumor-targeted delivery of biological moieties. The International Society of Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) based on the Minimal Information for Studies on Extracellular Vesicles (MISEV) recommends the usage of the term "small extracellular vesicles (sEVs)" that includes exosomes for particles that are 30-200 nm in size. However, majority of the studies reported in the literature and relevant to this review have used the term "exosomes". Therefore, this review will use the term "exosomes" interchangeably with sEVs for consistency with the literature and avoid confusion to the readers. This review, initially summarizes the different isolation and detection techniques developed to study ovarian cancer-derived exosomes and the potential use of these exosomes as biomarkers for the early diagnosis of this devastating disease. It addresses the role of exosome contents in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer, discusses strategies to limit exosome-mediated ovarian cancer progression, and provides options to use exosomes for tumor-targeted therapy in ovarian cancer. Finally, it states future research directions and recommends essential research needed to successfully transition exosomes from the laboratory to the gynecologic-oncology clinic.© 2024. The Author(s).