Type IV collagen and CD44v6 expression in benign, malignant primary and metastatic ovarian tumors: correlation with Ki-67 and p53 immunoreactivity

OBJECTIVE: Loss of basement membrane (BM) components, such as type IV collagen has been demonstrated in ovarian cancer, but the associations with other molecules like CD44v6, involved in metastatic process of ovarian carcinoma, have not been fully analyzed. This study investigates the expression of type IV collagen, CD44v6 molecule in correlation with p53 and Ki-67 presence in primary and metastatic lesion of ovarian carcinoma to define their role in metastases of ovarian carcinoma. METHODS: The expression of type IV collagen, CD44v6, p53, and Ki-67 was evaluated on frozen tissue sections from primary ovarian tumors (malignant n = 37, benign n = 16), metastatic lesions (n = 29) and ascitic fluid cells (n = 28). Protein expression of all studied biomarkers was evaluated in a subset of specimens using immunohistochemistry (IHC). RESULTS: Type IV collagen expression in the primary ovarian carcinoma was positively correlated with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage and tumor grade. Significant difference was observed for type IV collagen immunoreactivity in carcinoma cells in effusions when compared to corresponding primary tumors (P < 0.001) and metastatic lesions (P < 0.001). Likewise down-regulation of type IV collagen expression was seen in primary ovarian carcinomas (P = 0.01), ascitic fluid cells (P < 0.001), and metastases (P = 0.003) when compared to benign ovarian neoplasms. CD44v6 expression was detected in a comparable percentage of primary carcinomas (51%) and metastatic lesions (52%). In cells isolated from ascitic fluid, CD44v6 immunopositivity was observed in 43% of cases. A comparative analysis of primary and metastatic tumors and carcinoma cells in effusion did not reveal differences in expression of CD44v6. Positivity of CD44v6 was found in 2/16 (12%) of benign ovarian neoplasms. There were no significant differences between CD44v6 expression in benign neoplasms compared to primary malignant tumors and metastases (P > 0.05). CD44v6 expression in primary ovarian carcinomas was associated with higher tumor grade (P = 0.01) and histological type of tumors (P = 0.01). An inverse relationship of type IV collagen expression with p53 and CD44v6 positivity in benign and malignant ovarian tumors was found (P > 0.01). Type IV collagen expression was inversely correlated with p53 status (P = 0.03) in metastatic lesions. A slight trend toward an inverse correlation between Ki-67 and type IV collagen expression was observed in both benign and malignant ovarian tumors and metastases. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that observed inverse correlation of type IV collagen expression with p53, CD44v6, and slight with Ki-67 positivity in primary benign and malignant tumors indicates that these molecules may cooperate in the invasion and progression of ovarian carcinomas.     

p53 Expression in Epithelial Ovarian Neoplasms: Relationship to Clinical and Pathological Parameters, Ki-67 Expression and Flow Cytometry

Epithelial ovarian tumors of varying malignancy as well as normal ovaries were examined for their expression of p53 with the monoclonal antibody PAb1801. Immunohistochemical detection of p53 protein is possible when the gene has been mutated, but not when the normal gene product alone is present. Our results indicate that this tumor suppressor gene may be involved in tumorigenesis, as its expression was detected in both borderline and malignant tumors while normal ovaries and benign ovarian tumors were unstained with the p53 antibody. The presence of p53 was also related to dissemination of disease, residual tumor bulk, and poor differentiation as well as the presence of the proliferation variable Ki-67, another negative prognostic variable. No significant relation could be detected to S-phase fraction or DNA ploidy. Furthermore, the presence of p53 in malignant epithelial ovarian tumors was related to significantly decreased patient survival, with only 36% alive compared to 70% in the p53-negative group (P = 0.002). In the subgroup of patients with residual tumor burden after surgery, those with p53-positive tumors had a significantly (P = 0.05) decreased survival compared to those with p53-negative neoplasms, which further supports an independent role in ovarian cancer malignancy.     

Cyclin D1 overexpression and p53 mutation status in epithelial ovarian cancer

OBJECTIVE: To examine the cyclin D1 mRNA expression level in ovarian tumor samples as compared with normal ovaries and to determine the relationship between cyclin D1 overexpression and p53 mutation status in ovarian tumors. METHODS: mRNA was isolated and cDNA was prepared from 27 epithelial ovarian tumors (3 tumors of low malignant potential (LMP) and 24 cancers) and 6 normal ovaries. The cyclin D1 sequences were amplified by using a thermal cycler in parallel with the beta-tubulin gene as an internal control. The cyclin D1 mRNA expression level relative to beta-tubulin was determined by 32P phosphoimager analysis. To confirm the overexpression of the cyclin D1 protein in ovarian tumor cells, immunostaining was performed. The p53 gene mutation status was examined by direct cDNA sequencing. RESULTS: mRNA levels of cyclin D1 were significantly higher in 21 (78%) of the 27 ovarian tumors than in normal ovaries. Cyclin D1 overexpression was detected in ovarian LMP tumors as well as in ovarian cancer cases. Positive immunostaining of cyclin D1 protein was observed in 10 of 18 (56%) ovarian tumors examined. p53 mutations were found in 11 (61%) of 18 ovarian tumors. Of 11 ovarian tumor cases with p53 mutations, 5 showed overexpression of cyclin D1. All 7 ovarian tumor cases without p53 mutations showed significant cyclin D1 mRNA overexpression. CONCLUSION: Cyclin D1 overexpression seems to be an early genetic event in ovarian tumor development. Although p53 may be one of the proteins whose function regulates the expression of G1 cyclins, ovarian tumors with no p53 mutation consistently showed cyclin D1 overexpression. Cyclin D1 overexpression may play an important role in the tumorigenesis of epithelial ovarian tumors.     

Expression P53 protein and chromosome aberrations in benign tumors and ovarian carcinoma

OBJECTIVES: The epithelial ovarian tumors arise from the single layer of epithelial cells that line the ovarian surface or from underlying inclusion cysts. One from many theories of oncogenesis has been proposed that benign, borderline and invasive tumors represent sequential stages in the growth of an ovarian cancer, and p53 tumor suppressor gene mutation is the most common molecular genetic alteration. Because locus of p53 gene is located on 17 chromosome we performed the cytogenic analysis of tumor tissues. DESIGN: Analysis of mutated p53 protein expression and chromosomal aberrations in tissues of benign tumors and epithelial ovarian carcinomas. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Tissue samples from 19 women with benign and 17 women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancers were obtained for the study at the time of surgical procedures. From among benign tumors 12 were serous cystadenomas, 5 were endometrial cysts and 2 adult teratomas. All cases of invasive epithelial ovarian carcinomas were histologically recognized as serous adenocarcinomas, and were staged on I (9 cases), II (5 cases) and III (3 cases), according to the FIGO guidelines for ovarian cancers. Frozen tissue samples were stained immunohistochemically for mutated p53 protein using commercial monoclonal antibodies and standard detecting system. The fresh tumor samples were prepared for cytogenic analysis according to standard protocol. RESULTS: Among the all benign ovarian tumors overexpression of mutated form of p53 protein was not seen in any cases, but was noted in 6 cases in I stage and in all cases in II and III stages of advanced ovarian cancers. In 1 case of benign ovarian tumor deletion of X chromosome was observed. Most common numerical changes were observed in ovarian carcinomas e.g. loss of 8, 13, 17, and 22 chromosomes. Other chromosomes were involved at least once in structural rearrangements and several breakpoint cluster regions were identified: 19p13, 11p13-15, 1q21-23, 1p36, 19q13, and 6q21-23. CONCLUSIONS: The mutated form of p53 protein is often expressed in ovarian epithelial carcinoma tissues. This protein are unable to function effectively to inhibit proliferation and accumulate in the cells because is resistant to degradation. In tissues of ovarian carcinomas many chromosomal nondisjunctions (monosomics) and multiple structural rearrangements were observed, what means of genetically nonstable cell lines of neoplasms and probably it heterogenous origin.     

Relationship between p53-associated proteins and estrogen receptor status in ovarian serous neoplasms

We studied the immunoexpression of p14ARF, MDM2, and p53, in addition to relationships between those protein expressions and estrogen receptor (ER)alpha in ovarian serous tumors including benign (n= 23), borderline (n= 41), and malignant (n= 94). The aberrant expressions of p14ARF, MDM2, and p53 were observed in 19.6% (31/158), 47.5% (75/158), and 39.9% (63/158) of cases, respectively. The expression of MDM2 was significantly higher in borderline tumors compared to benign (P= 0.04) and malignant (P < 0.01) tumors. p53 expression in borderline tumors was uncommon, and p14ARF expression loss was mainly observed in carcinomas. Altered expression of p14ARF, MDM2, and p53 shows significant relationship with stage. Overexpression of MDM2 (P= 0.01) and loss of p14ARF expression (P= 0.04) were significantly associated with ER expression. Our results suggest that alteration of p14ARF-MDM2-p53 pathway proteins may contribute significantly to the tumorigenesis of ovarian serous neoplasms, and ER is involved in cellular regulation of p14ARF-MDM2-p53 pathway in ovarian serous neoplasms.     

p53 Protein Expression and Gene Analysis in Clear Cell Adenocarcinoma of the Vagina and Cervix

Objective:p53 is the most commonly mutated gene in human cancers. The objective of this study was to determine if clear cell adenocarcinomas (CCAs) of the vagina and cervix are associated with p53 gene mutations or alterations in p53 tumor-suppressor protein expression.Methods:Paraffin-embedded tissue specimens from 21 women (median age 22 years) with clear cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina or cervix were studied. Fifteen women had a prior history ofin uteroexposure to diethylstilbestrol. p53 protein expression was detected by immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis with monoclonal antibody DO-7 (Dako Corp.) which recognizes both wild-type and mutant p53 proteins. For p53 gene analysis, genomic DNA from malignant tissue was isolated and exons 4–10 were amplified by PCR and subjected to mutation screening by single-stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis.Results:p53 protein was detected by IHC in tumors from 14 of 21 cases (67%). The observed p53 staining patterns were heterogeneous in both the proportion and intensity of tumor cells stained but were clearly overexpressed relative to the surrounding benign stroma. Metastatic tumors from 3 women with metastatic disease were also positive for p53 staining. SSCP analysis did not identify p53 mutations in any of the cases and strongly suggests that the tumors contained only wild-type p53 alleles.Conclusions:Recent studies have demonstrated that wild-type p53 may accumulate in response to DNA damage which normally leads to growth arrest or programmed cell death. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that p53 overexpression in CCAs of the vagina and cervix is a response to generalized DNA damage, rather than a result of p53 protein half-life prolongation resulting from mutational inactivation of p53. Overexpression of wild-type p53 protein in vaginal and cervical CCA may relate to the more favorable prognosis of this subset of tumors in comparison to other gynecologic tumors containing mutated p53 genes.     

钙黏素6基因在卵巢肿瘤组织中的表达及突变的研究

目的　通过研究卵巢肿瘤组织中钙黏素 (cadherin) 6基因的表达、突变及其临床意义 ,以寻找与卵巢肿瘤发生相关的分子水平标志物。方法　应用RT PCR技术和PCR 单链构象多态性方法分别检测恶性卵巢肿瘤组织 (4 1份 )、良性卵巢肿瘤组织 (15份 )、正常卵巢组织 (17份 )中cadherin 6mRNA的表达及cadherin 6基因的突变情况 ,并分析其临床意义。结果　正常卵巢组织、良性卵巢肿瘤组织、恶性卵巢肿瘤组织中cadherin 6mRNA阳性率分别为 71%、5 3%、2 4 % ,前两者显著高于后者 (P<0 0 5 )。cadherin 6mRNA阳性率与恶性卵巢肿瘤手术病理分期有关 ,Ⅲ～Ⅳ期恶性卵巢肿瘤组织中 ,cadherin 6mRNA阳性率 (5 % )显著低于Ⅰ～Ⅱ期 (4 5 % ,P <0 0 1)。 4 1例恶性卵巢肿瘤患者中 ,2例出现cadherin 6基因突变 ,而在正常卵巢组织和良性卵巢肿瘤组织中无cadherin 6基因突变。结论　cadherin 6mRNA在晚期恶性卵巢肿瘤组织中表达缺失。提示cadherin 6mRNA表达可作为判断恶性卵巢肿瘤预后的一个指标     

卵巢肿瘤组织中p53和P－糖蛋白的表达及其临床意义

目的：评价卵巢肿瘤组织中突变型ｐ５３基因和Ｐ－糖蛋白（Ｐ－ｇｐ）表达的临床病理意义及其相互关系。方法：采用免疫组织化学法测定卵巢恶性肿瘤５３例，卵巢良性肿瘤２０例和正常卵巢组织１７例的ｐ５３和Ｐ－ｇｐ的表达，并与临床病理因素进行相关分析。结果：１．卵巢恶性肿瘤组织中ｐ５３和Ｐ－ｇｐ阳性表达率分别为４６．７％和３５．８％，卵巢良性肿瘤和正常卵巢组织中则无一例ｐ５３和Ｐ－ｇｐ表达。２．Ⅲ～Ⅳ期患者和低分化卵巢恶性瘤组织中ｐ５３表达阳性率高于Ⅰ～Ⅱ期和高、中分化者，而Ｐ－ｇｐ表达与临床分期、组织学类型和分级无明显相关性。３．Ｐ－ｇｐ表达阳性和阴性的卵巢恶性肿瘤患者，对化疗的有效率分别为３１．６％和６４．７％，而ｐ５３阳性表达与化疗效果无明显相关性。结论：组织中的ｐ５３和Ｐ－ｇｐ表达测定对判断卵巢恶性肿瘤的预后和对化疗的敏感性有一定的价值。     

HPV and p53 expression in epithelial ovarian carcinoma

OBJECTIVES: Human papillomavirus is the causal factor for cervical cancer. However, the role of HPV infection in ovarian cancer is unclear. This study aimed to determine the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in ovarian cancer tissues along with the expression of tumor suppressor gene p53. We also investigated any possible association of HPV with p53 gene mutations in ovarian carcinoma. METHODS: Archived human ovarian cancer tissues (n = 40 cases of epithelial ovarian cancer) embedded in paraffin blocks were used. Controls were 32 non-malignant ovarian tumor tissue blocks. In situ hybridization (ISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to detect the presence of HPV and p53 expression, respectively. RESULTS: Of the total, 37.5% (n = 15) of malignant and 28.1% (n = 9) of benign ovarian tumors were positive for HPV (OR: 1.5 CI: 0.5-4.1, p = 0.4). The difference was not statistically significant. However, p53 was detected in 72.5% (n = 29) of malignant cases compared to 37.5% (n = 12) of benign cases (OR: 4.3 CI: 1.6-11.9, p = 0.003). Furthermore, a positive correlation between HPV and p53 expressions in ovarian cancer tissue samples was detected (r = 0.47, p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: HPV does not seem to be a major component in the development of ovarian carcinoma, nevertheless HPV positivity seems to contribute to the pathogenesis in at least some ovarian carcinoma cases by way of interaction with tumor suppressor p53.     

Expression of GLUT-1 glucose transporter in borderline and malignant epithelial tumors of the ovary

OBJECTIVE: Cancer cells have increased rates of glucose metabolism when compared to normal cells. One of the mechanisms proposed for the accelerated glucose use in malignant cells is the overexpression of glucose transporters. In this study we evaluated the expression of the GLUT-1 glucose transporter in borderline and malignant epithelial neoplasms of the ovary. METHODS: Histologic sections of tumor tissues from 21 borderline and 82 malignant epithelial neoplasms of the ovary were stained for GLUT-1 using polyclonal GLUT-1 antibody (Dako, Carpinteria, CA) and the labeled streptavidin biotin procedure. DAB was used as chromagen and tissues were counterstained with hematoxylin. RESULTS: Normal ovarian surface epithelial cells were either negative or weakly positive. Of the 82 carcinomas, 81 (98.8%) were positive for GLUT-1. The staining intensity was significantly associated with the grade of tumor (P = 0.001). Of the 21 borderline neoplasms, 20 (95.2%) were positive for GLUT-1. Carcinomas had a significantly stronger stain than borderline tumors (P = 0.0001). The intensity of the stain was also stronger in serous carcinomas compared to other subtypes (P = 0. 0001). Positive cells demonstrated a cytoplasmic membrane staining that was more intense in tumor cells farther away from blood supply. CONCLUSION: Overexpression of the GLUT-1 transporter is associated with the histology and grade of the tumors. Our findings show a progressive increase in the expression of the GLUT-1 transporter from the borderline tumor to the high-grade carcinomas. These data suggest that the expression of this transporter may be closely related to the malignant transformation of epithelial ovarian tumors.     

Expression of metallothionein and nuclear size in discrimination of malignancy in mucinous ovarian tumors.

Metallothioneins (MTs) are low molecular weight proteins that control cell proliferation via their metalloregulatory function. Several studies in various tumors have shown their influence in determining response to chemotherapy and prognosis. Because there has been no such study pertaining to ovarian tumors, we investigated MT expression and nuclear size in mucinous ovarian neoplasms (12 benign, 6 borderline, and 8 malignant). The percentage of MT-positive stained cells was significantly higher in the borderline than in the benign tumors, but lower than in the malignant tumors. Single layers of cells in the borderline tumors showed mild immunostaining in 50% of the cells and moderate staining in the remaining 50%, while 83.3% of cells within multilayered epithelium showed moderate to strong immunostaining. In the carcinomas, 87.5% of tumors showed moderate to strong staining in single-layered epithelium and moderate to strong staining of all the cells in multilayered epithelium. Morphometry measurements showed that the mean nuclear area of cells in the carcinomas was significantly larger than in the borderline or benign tumors. The nuclear area of cells in the carcinomas with early recurrence or metastasis was also significantly larger than in carcinomas without recurrence or metastasis. It is concluded that MT protein expression and nuclear size are possible markers for the evaluation of the progression of malignancy in mucinous ovarian tumors.     

卵巢交界性肿瘤中ras P21蛋白的表达及其临床意义

目的：探讨rasP21蛋白在卵巢交界性肿瘤（OBT）中的表达及其临床意义。方法：应用免疫组织化学SP法对41份OBT中rasP21蛋白的表达进行检测,同时选取10份正常卵巢组织、20份卵巢上皮性良性肿瘤、24份卵巢上皮性癌标本作对照研究。结果：rasP21在OBT中的阳性表达率为43．9％,与正常卵巢组织、卵巢良性肿瘤及卵巢癌相比,其阳性表达率及强度差异均有显著性,随着病变恶性程度提高,表达逐渐增强（P＜0．05）,粘液性OBT与卵巢粘液性良性肿瘤及卵巢恶性肿瘤相比,阳性表达率及表达强度差异均有显著性（P＜0．05）,而浆液性OBT与同种病理类型的其他卵巢肿瘤相比,未见上述结果。除rasP21的表达强度与OBT肿瘤大小有关外,其表达结果与OBT的其他临床病理因素均无关（P＞0．05）。结论：rasP21表达与OBT的发生有关,检测rasP21蛋白有助于粘液性OBT与其他卵巢粘液性肿瘤的鉴别。     

ras oncogene product p21 expression and prognosis of human ovarian tumors.

Monoclonal antibody rp-28 directed against the ras gene product p21 has been studied to evaluate ras p21 expression in malignant and benign ovarian tissues. Some ovarian carcinomas of serous and mucinous cystadenocarcinomas, undifferentiated adenocarcinomas, and clear cell carcinomas demonstrated intense staining of ras p21. The frequency and intensity of ras p21 staining were observed to increase with the degree of malignancy. There was no significant difference in ras p21 expression between early and late stages in ovarian tumors arising from the coelomic epithelium. With respect to prognosis, no differences between the ras p21-positive and -negative cases in ovarian tumors arising from the coelomic epithelium were observed. It is, therefore, possible to say that ras p21 expression was not related to clinical staging and prognosis. Expression of ras p21 in malignant lesions was higher than that in benign lesions of the ovary, and the expression is associated with the degree of malignancy in some types of ovarian tumors. Overexpression of ras p21 was observed in epithelial tumors; however, increased expression was not observed in germ cell and sex-cord stromal tumors. This differential expression of ras p21 is due to the different histogenesis of ovarian tumors. This fact may reflect a different carcinogenic mechanism for different types of malignancy.     

Expression and mutation analysis of the p53 gene in astrocytoma.

The role of p53 gene mutations in the formation or progression of human astrocytic tumors is controversial. We studied the distribution pattern of p53 immunoreactivity and analyzed p53 gene mutations to define the significance of p53 gene mutations in astrocytoma tumorigenesis or malignant progression. Twenty-three astrocytic tumors were evaluated with immunohistochemistry, single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis, and sequence analysis. We also searched MEDLINE to collect data on p53 gene mutation frequencies in astrocytic tumors in order to evaluate the association of p53 mutations and tumor grade. Strong immunoreactivity with a diffuse clustering pattern was found in three of five glioblastomas and seven of 12 anaplastic astrocytomas. Three of four low-grade astrocytomas were immunonegative. The p53 immunopositive cells in the only positively staining low-grade astrocytoma in our study appeared sparsely scattered. The results of immunostaining suggested that clonal expansion was associated with astrocytoma progression. Mutations of the p53 gene were detected in four of the 23 astrocytomas (one glioblastoma and three anaplastic astrocytomas). In the genetic data analysis, 76 of 367 astrocytomas had p53 gene mutations. A significantly greater p53 gene mutation frequency was found in anaplastic astrocytomas or glioblastomas than in the low-grade astrocytomas. The results of these immunohistochemical and genetic studies support the view that p53 gene mutation is associated with the malignant progression from low-grade to high-grade astrocytomas rather than with tumor initiation or promotion.     

p63 expression in epithelial ovarian tumors

Ovarian cancer is a highly lethal disease and its underlying biology is poorly understood. The p63 is a homologue gene of the tumor suppressor p53. p63 appears to be important for the development and differentiation of reproductive epithelium and interacts with p53 in human tumorigenesis. This study presents the immunoexpression of the p63 in benign and malignant epithelial ovarian tumors. We evaluated the p63 immunoexpression in 91 ovarian benign cystadenomas (29 mucinous and 62 serous) and in 29 ovarian malignant tumors (3 mucinous borderline, 3 serous borderline, 17 serous carcinomas, 2 endometrioid, 2 undifferentiated, 1 mucinous, and 1 clear-cell carcinoma) using a monoclonal antibody clone 4A4 (1:200), which recognizes all p63 variants. The tumors were considered p63 positive if 5% or more cells presented nuclear immunostaining. We observed 85.7% of positivity in benign tumors, 50% in borderline tumors, and 8.7% in invasive ovarian cancer (P < .0001). The benign serous cystadenomas were positive in 91.9% of cases and benign mucinous cystadenomas in 72.4% (P= .02). These data suggests an important role of p63 in the control of ovarian epithelium behavior. The p63 may be involved in the development of benign and malignant epithelial ovarian tumors.     

P53-status in primary ovarian carcinomas, ovarian metastases of neoplasms in other sites and benign ovarian tumors: predictive value in comparison to histopathological parameters

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the tumor suppressor gene p53 can be used as a prognosis factor to assess individual patient risk in primary ovarian carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The concentration of the mutated, as well as the wild type p53 was examined in 98 cases of ovarian carcinoma. Among 98 ovarian tumors examined, 77 were primary carcinomas, 14 tumors were metastasis of foreign tumors, and 7 were benign ovarian tumors. The pan-53 ELISA from Fa. Dianova was used to test for the p53 protein. RESULTS: The p53 protein concentration exhibited a wide range in the different tissue samples. Benign tumors contained significantly lower p53 concentrations than malignant tumors. After the data was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier, a p53 concentration of 507.1 pg/ml was established as cut-off point for assessing cancer prognosis as good or poor. Patients exhibiting p53 concentrations over 507.1 pg/ml had a median life expectancy of 20 months, and patients exhibiting lower tumor concentrations of p53 had a life expectancy of over 70 months. A significant relationship between patient life expectancy could also be shown for tumor stage and type, whereas not for tumor grading. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of this study, the routine measurement of p53 may allow for a better prognostic assessment of life expectancy of patients with primary ovarian carcinoma.     

卵巢肿瘤p16、Rb、CyclinD1基因蛋白的流式细胞分析及其与细胞增殖的关系

目的：探讨卵巢肿瘤中p16、Rb、CyclinD1基因蛋白的表达及其与细胞增殖的关系。方法：利用流式细胞术检测60份卵巢肿瘤组织中p16、Rb、CyclinD1基因蛋白的表达,同时检测DNA的含量,以5份正常卵巢组织作对照。结果：从良性到恶性,p16、Rb的荧光指数（FI）依次降低,CyclinD1表达依次升高,增殖指数（PI）亦升高。阳性组P16的PI低于阴性组,多元线性回归显示p16与PI呈负相关（P＝0．0081）;Rb、CyclinD1不同表达时,PI值有差异,但无统计学意义。p16、Rb阳性表达时,DNA指数（DI）下降,而CyclinD1阳性表达时,DI值较高。结论：p16、Rb缺失,CyclinD1增加可促进肿瘤的恶性转化及异常增殖。     

Prostate-derived Ets factor is overexpressed in serous epithelial ovarian tumors.

The frequent overexpression of prostate-derived Ets factor (PDEF) mRNA in ovarian cancer has been previously reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate PDEF protein expression in ovarian cancer and how this expression might vary at different stages of epithelial ovarian tumors in comparison to normal ovary. A new rabbit polyclonal antibody to PDEF was prepared, and immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue sections from 12 normal ovaries, 10 cases of benign serous cystadenoma, 17 cases of low malignant potential tumor, 19 cases of stage 1, and 15 cases of advanced stage primary epithelial (serous) ovarian carcinomas and their peritoneal metastases. Expression levels were assessed based on the percentage of positively staining cells and the intensity of staining. All 12 normal ovary and 10 benign serous cystadenoma cases were negative for PDEF expression. In contrast, 6 of 17 (35%) low malignant potential tumors, 5 of 19 (27%) stage 1, and 5 of 15 (33%) advanced stage ovarian tumors stained positive for PDEF expression. Together, these results show frequent overexpression of PDEF protein in epithelial ovarian tumors and its lack of expression in normal ovary and cystadenomas, and this supports a role for PDEF in ovarian tumorigenesis. Furthermore, these results suggest that PDEF is a potential marker and target in ovarian cancer.