Clinicopathological prognostic parameters in patients with tubo-ovarian carcinoma effusions.

Objective: To analyse the predictive and prognostic role of clinicopathological parameters in patients with tubo-ovarian carcinoma and malignant effusion.

Methods: A retrospective series of 700 malignant peritoneal (n = 610) and pleural (n = 90) effusions from 558 patients was revised for histotype based on the 2014 World Health Organization criteria. The role of clinicopathological parameters in determining outcome was assessed.

Multidrug resistance-linked gene signature predicts overall survival of patients with primary ovarian serous carcinoma.

Purpose: This study assesses the ability of multidrug resistance (MDR)-associated gene expression patterns to predict survival in patients with newly diagnosed carcinoma of the ovary. The scope of this research differs substantially from that of previous reports, as a very large set of genes was evaluated whose expression has been shown to affect response to chemotherapy.

Experimental Design: We applied a customized TaqMan low density array, a highly sensitive and specific assay, to study the expression profiles of 380 MDR-linked genes in 80 tumor specimens collected at initial surgery to debulk primary serous carcinoma.

Heat shock protein 90 is a putative therapeutic target in patients with recurrent advanced-stage ovarian carcinoma with serous effusions.

Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) has anti-apoptotic properties exerted through its cytoprotective function of chaperone activity and increased expression in response to stress. The present study analyzed the clinical role of HSP90 in effusions from patients with advanced-stage ovarian carcinoma. HSP90 protein expression was investigated in 265 effusions using immunohistochemistry.

Clinical relevance of multidrug resistance gene expression in ovarian serous carcinoma effusions.

The presence of tumor cells in effusions within serosal cavities is a clinical manifestation of advanced-stage cancer and is generally associated with poor survival. Identifying molecular targets may help to design efficient treatments to eradicate these aggressive cancer cells and improve patient survival. Using a state-of-the-art TaqMan-based qRT-PCR assay, we investigated the multidrug resistance (MDR) transcriptome of 32 unpaired ovarian serous carcinoma effusion samples obtained at diagnosis or at disease recurrence following chemotherapy.

Mammalian target of rapamycin is a biomarker of poor survival in metastatic serous ovarian carcinoma.

The AKT signaling pathway is crucial for cancer cell survival. The objective of this study was to analyze the expression and clinical role of this pathway in serous ovarian carcinoma. Phospho-AKT and phospho-mammalian target of rapamycin protein expression was studied in 269 ovarian carcinomas (159 effusions, 38 primary carcinomas, 72 solid metastases) using immunohistochemistry.

Evaluation of cell surface expression of phosphatidylserine in ovarian carcinoma effusions using the annexin-V/7-AAD assay: clinical relevance and comparison with other apoptosis parameters.

Phosphatidylserine cell surface exposure during apoptosis can be detected by its binding to the protein annexin-V. We investigated annexin-V expression in 76 ovarian carcinoma effusions using flow cytometry. Results were analyzed for association with clinicopathologic parameters and survival.

Expression and clinical role of antiapoptotic proteins of the bag, heat shock, and Bcl-2 families in effusions, primary tumors, and solid metastases in ovarian carcinoma.

Cancer progression is associated with reduced apoptosis and increased proliferation. We hypothesized that upregulation of the Bag family of survival cochaperones and its molecular partners of the Bcl-2 and heat shock protein (HSP) families would correlate with disease progression and survival in ovarian cancer. Bag-1, Bag-4, HSP27, HSP70, Bcl-2, and Bcl-X(L) expression was immunohistochemically analyzed in effusions (188) and patient-matched solid tumors (43 primary carcinomas, 81 solid metastases).

NK- and B-cell infiltration correlates with worse outcome in metastatic ovarian carcinoma.

We studied the clinical role of leukocyte infiltration and chemokine receptor expression in ovarian carcinoma effusions. Expression of leukocyte markers (CD3, CD4, CD8, CD4/CD8 ratio, CD16, CD19, and CD14) and chemokine receptors (CXCR1, CXCR4, CCR2, CCR5, and CCR7) was studied in 73 effusions by using flow cytometry. CXCR4, CCR5, and CCR7 were expressed abundantly on leukocytes, but all receptors were expressed rarely on cancer cells.