Expression of cancer stem cell-related markers in ovarian carcinoma and its clinical significance

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the expression of cancer stem cell (CSC)-related markers in human epithelial ovarian cancers of different subtypes and to assess their predictive and prognostic significance.

Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemical analyses of 18 CSC-related proteins which include CSC surface markers, stemness markers, Notch and Hedgehog signaling molecules were performed in 103 cases of invasive epithelial ovarian tumors. The differences in clinicopathologic variables according to the immunoreactivity for CSC-related proteins were evaluated using chi-square test or Students t-test as appropriate. Survivals were also evaluated and compared using Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test.

Results: CSC-related proteins were differentially expressed according to the histologic subtypes. The serous adenocarcinomas were characterized by high expression of CD24, Nanog and Snail, whereas the expression of CD44, Shh and Gli-1 was more common in mucinous adenocarcinomas. However, none of the CSC-related proteins was associated with other clinicopathologic variables, including stage and response to platinum-based chemotherapy, and survival outcomes.

Conclusions: Although none of the CSC-related molecules served as independent predictive and prognostic markers, the frequency of tumor cells positive for these markers varies substantially according to the histologic subtype.