| INTRODUCTIONCarcinoma of the ovary is the leading cause of death from gynecological cancer. Ovarian carcinoma are often asymptomatic in the early stages, and approximately two - thirds of the patients are diagnosed with stage Ⅲ or Ⅳ disease , when metastatic spread within the peritoneal cavity and/or to distant organs is present. Despite the introduction of chemotherapeutic regiments as adjunct to surgery, the 5 - year survival of ovarian carcinoma remains at a dismal 25 - 30% , being 20% for serous carcinomas, the most common histologic subtype.Carbohydrates are widely expressed on cell membranes , as structural components of glycoproteins and glycolipids, and are involved in a variety of cellular functions, including cellular adhesion, recognition and signal transductionThe enhanced expression of blood group - related antigens of the A, B, H, Lewis family has been found to be a characteristic of many carcinomas (reviewed in Lloyd, 1987; Hakomori, 1985). Although these blood group antigens are also expressed in most normal epithelial tissues and their secretions, the elevated levels found in tumors make them suitable targets for antibody - directed diagnosis and therapy. Ley(Lewisy) blood group antigens (epitope structure; Fucal→ 2Galβ1→4[Fucal→3]GlcNAc - ) has received particular attention because of its high expression in a number of tumor types, including colon, gastric, lung, breast and ovary cancers. Furthermore, anti - Ley antibodies have been shown to have anti — tumor effects. But, up to now, there have been seldom pappers a-bout Ley and even none is about the expression of Ley antigen in ovary carcinoma in China. Maybe the expression of the blood - group antigens differs in differentHuman races, so we investigated the expression of Ley in nomal ovary tissues, bening and borderline ovary epithetic tumors, ovary epithetic carcinomas and there respective metastatic lesions to give the experimental evidents to the furthermore uses in dignoses and treatments of ovarian cacinomas.OBJECTIVEThe object of this study was to evaluate the carbohydrate antigen Le7 expression in ovarian cacinomas, and to analysis the relationship between the Le7 expression and the clinical significance in ovarian cacinoma.METHORDSections from 53 malignant ovarian carcinoma patients, 29 metastatic lesions, 17 borderline ovary tumor, 13 benign ovary tumor and 10 nomal o-varian tissues were immunohistochemically stained using the monoclonal antibody for Ley antigen. Formalin - fixed paraffin - embedded sections, 4 - um - thick, were eparaffinized and rehydrated, then were treated with 3% H2 O2 in PBS for 10 min, washed with PBS and then incubated with 10% goast serum - PBS. After draining off the goast serum - PBS solution, sections were treated with Mab Ley (1: 50) at 4℃. for overnight. Sections were washed with PBS and then 2% BSA - PBS incubated with horseradish peroxidase - conjugated raddit anti - mouse Ig( 1:100). Sections were then washed with PBS and incubated with 3 ,3' diaminobenzi-dine tetrahydrochloride in 3% H2 O2 . Sections were washed with distilled water, counter - stained with Harris' hematoxylin, washed, air - dried and mounted with Histoclad and examined by light microscopy.RESULTSLey antigen expression was detected in 40/53 of primary ovarian car-cinoma tissues (range = 75.26% ) , 24/29 (82.76% ) cases of metastatic specimens, 8/17 (47. 06% ) cases of borderline ovary tumor and 6/14 (42.86% ) cases of innocent tumor. Although there was no statistically significant difference in the scores of Ley between primary and metastatic ovarian carcinoma, as for innocent, borderline and malignant ovarian tumors, the statistical difference was significant beyond measure.DISCUSSIONCarbohydrates are widely expressed on cell membranes, as structural components of glycoproteins and glycolipids, and are involved in a variety of cellular functions, including cellular adhesion, recognition and signal transduction. A rapidly growing number of reports have shown an association between the aberrant glycosylation and the malignant phenotype of various cell types.The enhanced expression of blood group - related antigens of the A, B, H, Lewis family has been found to be a characteristic of many carcinomas (reviewed in Lloyd, 1987; Hakomori, 1985). Although these blood group antigens are also expressed in most normal epithelial tissues and their secretions, the elevated levels found in tumors make them suitable targets for antibody - directed diagnosis and therapy. Furthermore, certain alteration in oligosaccharides have been associated with the metastatic process and poor patient survival in a number of epithelial malignancies, e. g. , lung, bladder, breast, prostate, colon, and gastric carcinomas.Le7 blood group antigens (epitope structure: Fucα1→2Galβ1→4[Fucα1 →3 ] GlcNAc - ) has received particular attention because of its high expression in a number of tumor types, including colon, gastric, lung, breast and ovary cancers. But, up to now, there have been seldom pappers about Ley and even none is about the expression of Le7 antigen in ovary carcinoma in China. This study suggests Ley antigen expression was detected in 40/53 of primary ovarian carcinoma tissues ( range = 75. 26% ) , 24/29 (82. 76% ) cases of metastatic specimens ,8/17 (47.06% ) cases of borderline ovary tumor and 6/14 (42.86% )... |
PDF Full Text Request