Exosomes in ovarian cancer: impact on drug resistance and advances in SERS detection techniques

Ovarian cancer is a prevalent gynecological malignancy with high mortality and low survival rates. The absence of specific symptoms in early stages often leads to late-stage diagnoses. Standard treatment typically includes surgery followed by platinum and paclitaxel chemotherapy. Exosomes, nanoscale vesicles released by various cell types, are key in intercellular communication, carrying biologically active molecules like proteins, lipids, enzymes, mRNA, and miRNAs. They are involved in tumor microenvironment remodeling, angiogenesis, metastasis, and chemoresistance in ovarian cancer. Emerging research highlights exosomes as drug carriers and therapeutic targets to suppress anti-tumor immune responses. Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) enables multiplexed, sensitive, and rapid detection of exosome surface proteins, offering advantages such as low background noise, no photobleaching, robustness, and high sensitivity over other detection methods. This review explores the relationship between exosomes and chemoresistance in ovarian cancer, examining the mechanisms by which exosomes contribute to drug resistance and their clinical implications. The goal is to provide new insights into chemoresistance mechanisms, improve diagnosis and intervention strategies, and enhance chemotherapy sensitivity in clinical treatments. In addition, the prospects of exosomes as drug carriers to resist chemical resistance and improve the survival of ovarian cancer patients are summarized. This article emphasizes the role of SERS in detecting ovarian cancer exosomes and advances in exosome detection.