Browsing by Subject "Ovarian carcinoma"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Evaluation of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21Cip1 in epithelial ovarian tumors of low malignant potential and adenocarcinomas
    (Murcia : F. Hernández, 2003) Vassilopoulos, I.; Korkolopoulou, P.; Konstantinidou, A.E.; Patsouris, Efstratios; Eftichiadis, C.; Thimara, I.; Perdiki, M.; Pavlakis, K.; Agapitos, E.; Davaris, P.
    Objective: In view of the controversial information on the significance of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21Cip1 in ovarian cancer, we conducted a retrospective investigation to clarify the relationships of this protein to proliferation rate, clinicopathological variables and prognosis of epithelial ovarian tumors. Methods: Paraffin-embedded tissue from 43 ovarian tumors of low malignant potential (LMP) and 82 primary ovarian adenocarcinomas were stained immunohistochemically for p21Cip1, p53 protein and Ki- 67 antigen (a marker of cell proliferation). Results: p21Cip1 levels were significantly higher in LMP tumors (p<0.001) as well as in early stage adenocarcinomas (p=0.021) and those associated with minimal residual disease (p=0.008). However, no relationship existed between p21Cip1 expression and the proliferation rate of adenocarcinomas or LMP tumors. In the vast majority of LMP tumors p21Cip1 expression was not accompanied by p53 accumulation. This p21Cip1-positive/p53-negative phenotype prevailed in the early stage (p=0.026), lower grade (p=0.018) adenocarcinomas as well as in those left with minimal residual disease (p=0.059). In patients with lower grade adenocarcinomas, decreased p21Cip1 expression was adversely related to poor overall survival on its own (p=0.0500) and when combined with p53 protein overexpression (p=0.0323). In multivariate analysis, only the stage remained as the independent predictor of survival. Conclusions: Decreased p21Cip1 expression is related to several indicators of aggressiveness in ovarian adenocarcinomas and seems to be differentially regulated in LMP tumors and adenocarcinomas. On the contrary, deregulation of p21Cip1 expression does not seem to participate in the pathogenesis of LMP tumors. Furthermore, although p21Cip1 alone or combined with p53 is of prognostic significance in lower grade adenocarcinomas, it does not appear to add to the information gained from traditional prognosticators.
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    Expression of microRNA-145, OCT4, and SOX2 in double primary endometrioid endometrial and ovarian carcinomas
    (Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, 2018) Zhang, Ran; Jiao, Jinwen; Chu, Huijun; Yang, Hongjuan; Wang, Liming; Gao, Nana
    Double primary endometrioid endometrial and ovarian carcinomas (DPEEOCs) are the most common multiple gynecological carcinomas. In recent years, gene sequential comparison analysis has strongly supported the opinion that sporadic double endometrioid endometrial and ovarian cancers (DEEOCs) are clonally related in both primary and metastatic tumors. In order to find more clonal evidence for DPEEOC, we investigated cancer stem cells (CSCs). SOX2 and OCT4 are two common factors in CSCs. MicroRNA (miRNA)- 145, a small non-coding RNA, has effects in regulating gene expression and tumorigenesis in CSCs. The aim of this study was to assess the involvements of SOX2, OCT4, and miRNA-145 in the tumorigenesis of DPEEOCs. In our study, twenty DPEEOC patients were chosen. Metastatic DEEOCs and normal endometrial and ovarian tissues were also included. The expression of miRNA-145 was detected by real-time quantitative PCR. Immunohistochemical staining was used to measure the expression of OCT4 and SOX2. The results showed that miRNA-145 expression was lower in DPEEOC endometrial tissues and higher in DPEEOC ovarian tissues compared to the corresponding normal tissues. Both SOX2 and OCT4 were over-expressed in cancer tissues compared with that in normal tissues. MiRNA-145, SOX2, and OCT4 were expressed at similar levels in two cancer sites of a given DPEEOC or metastatic DEEOC sample. Besides, metastatic DEEOC sections expressed a higher level of SOX2 and OCT4 compared to the corresponding DPEEOC tissues. Together, these results support the clonality of DPEEOCs. Moreover, SOX2 and OCT4 may have some implication in DPEEOC and metastatic DEEOC diagnosis.
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    Expression profile of tight junction protein claudin 3 and claudin 4 in ovarian serous adenocarcinoma with prognostic correlation
    (Murcia : F. Hernández, 2007) Choi, Y.L.; Kim, J.B.; Kwon, M.J.; Choi, J.S.; Kim, T.J.; Bae, D.S.; Koh, S.S.; In, Y.H.; Park, Y.W.; Kim, S.H.; Ahn, G.H.; Shin, Y.K.
    Tight junction proteins claudin 3 (CLDN3) and claudin 4 (CLDN4) are frequently altered in several human cancers, including ovarian carcinomas. Here, we examined the gene expression of CLDN3 and CLDN4 in various tumors, including 19 normal ovaries and 47 ovarian carcinomas by analyzing Affymetrix HG-U133 array data. Furthermore, a total of 114 ovarian serous tumors, including 10 adenomas, 20 borderline tumors and 84 carcinomas, were analyzed immunohistochemically to confirm the expression of two proteins and we assessed the association of their expression with the clinicopathological characteristics and survival of the patients. The microarray experiment revealed CLDN3 and CLDN4 transcripts were significantly up-regulated by 5-fold or more in most subtypes of ovarian epithelial carcinomas while the immunohistochemical analyses indicated that each protein was expressed in 68 (81.0%) and 72 (85.7%) of 84 serous adenocarcinomas, respectively. Borderline serous tumors and adenomas showed significantly lower expression of these proteins than the adenocarcinomas. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that serous adenocarcinoma patients with high CLDN3 expression had substantially shorter survival (P=0.027). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that CLDN3 overexpression is an independent negative prognostic factor. Our findings suggest that CLDN3 overexpression can be used as a prognostic indicator in ovarian serous carcinomas. Moreover, CLDN3 may be a promising target for antibody-based therapy of ovarian carcinomas.
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    Immunolocalizations of VEGF, its receptors flt-1, KDR and TGF-ß's in epithelial ovarian tumors
    (Murcia : F. Hernández, 2006) Inan, S.; Vatansever, S.; Celik-Ozenci, C.; Sanci, M.; Dicle, N.; Demir, R.
    Objective: Angiogenesis is an essential factor for growth, differentiation, invasion and metastasis of tumors. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the immunolocalizations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), its receptors flt-1, KDR/flk-1, and transforming growth factor-beta’s (TGF-ß) in epithelial ovarian tumors, utilizing indirect immunohistochemistry to understand the role of the angiogenic events in ovarian neoplasia. Methods: Tissue blocks from 40 patients who had ovarian pathology (borderline serous–mucinous tumor and malignant serous–mucinous adenocarcinoma of the ovary) were included in this study. All formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin or primary antibodies against VEGF, flt-1, KDR/flk-1, TGF-ß1, TGF-ß2 and TGF-ß3 using the avidin-biotin-peroxidase method. H-SCORE, a semi-quantitative grading system, was used to compare immunohistochemical staining intensities. Results: Positive VEGF immunoreactivity was concentrated in the epithelial and stromal parts of all the ovarian samples and the endothelial cells in the stroma were also stained. Increased immunoreactivity of VEGF was observed in malignant ovarian adenocarcinomas compared to the borderline tumors of the ovary. VEGF receptors, flt-1 and KDR/flk-1 immunoreactivities were detected not only in vascular endothelial cells, but also in tumor cells at malignant sites. Immunoreactivities of VEGF and its receptors were coexpressed in tumor cells of the ovarian carcinoma. While immunoreactivities of TGF-ß1 and TGF-ß2 were both overexpressed in malignant ovarian carcinomas, immunoreactivity of TGF-ß3 was still mild. Conclusion: Our results suggest that overexpression of VEGF, its receptors flt-1, KDR/flk-1 and TGF-ß interaction may play an important role in the ovarian cancer biology, with potential effects on tumor growth and angiogenesis. New therapeutic strategies using VEGF and TGF-ß antagonists could obtain an additional approach to the treatment ovarian carcinoma by inhibiting angiogenesis.
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    Molecular genetics of ovarian carcinomas
    (Murcia : F. Hernández, 1999) Diebold, J.
    The phenotypic variability of epithelial ovarian neoplasms correlates with a diversity of changes at the molecular level. Invasive serous and undifferentiated ovarian carcinomas are characterized by p53 mutations with p53 protein accumulation, extensive loss of genetic material of chromosome 17 and complex changes on many other chromosomes, e.g. amplification of oncogenes. These alterations are seen only in a minority of mucinous and endometrioid carcinomas, mainly in advanced stages. Overexpression of bcl-2 is seen most frequently in endometrioid carcinomas (ca. 90% of cases), which in addition show microsatellite instability in around a third of the cases, as has been described in endometrioid endometrial carcinomas. KRAS mutations are characteristic for mucinous LMP tumors and mucinous carcinomas (40-50% of cases) and are also found in a third of serous LMP tumors. In addition, serous LMP tumors show mild microsatellite instability in 30%. However, complex chromosomal aberrations are never seen in these neoplasms
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    New determinates of disease progression and outcome in metastatic ovarian carcinoma
    (Murcia : F. Hernández, 2010) Davidson, Ben; Reich, Reuven; Trope, Claes G.; Wang, Tian-Li; Shih, Ie-Ming
    Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy. This is attributed to frequent presentation at late stage, when the tumor has metastasized, as well as to development of chemotherapy resistance along tumor progression. Patients with advanced-stage ovarian carcinoma have widespread intraperitoneal metastases, including the formation of malignant serous effusions within the peritoneal cavity. Pleural effusions constitute the most frequent site of distant metastasis (FIGO stage IV disease). Unlike the majority of solid tumors, particularly at the primary site, cancer cells in effusions are not amenable to surgical removal, and failure in their eradication is one of the main causes of treatment failure. Our research in recent years has demonstrated that a large number of cancer-associated molecules are differentially expressed in effusions compared to primary carcinomas and solid metastases. We have additionally observed that expression of several of these molecules differs between primary diagnosis (prechemotherapy) and disease recurrence (postchemotherapy) specimens, and that they are significantly associated with response to chemotherapy and patient survival. These observations are thought to be related to disease progression, as well as to the unique microenvironment of effusions, and may have impact on the selection of targeted therapy in this cancer. This review discusses our recent observations with respect to the biology of ovarian carcinoma cells in effusions, and focuses on the clinical role of tumor-associated molecules at this anatomic site.