Study On The Expression Of Muc4 And Its Relationship With Her2/neu, Ca125 In Epithelial Ovarian Carcinoma

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of MUC4 in epithelial ovarian cancer tissues and to analyze the relationship between the expression of MUC4 and that of HER2/neu, CA125. Methods Immunohistochemical staining of two steps was performed to determine the protein expressions of MUC4, HER2/neu and CA125 in59 epithelial ovarian carcinomas, 19 borderline epithelial ovarian tumors, 16 benign ovarian tumors and 11 normal ovarian tissues. The correlations of MUC4, HER2/neu and CA125 with clinic pathological factors of epithelial ovarian cancer were analyzed byχ~2 test or Fisher's exact test,Kappa statistics were calculated to assess the agreement of MUC4 expression and HER2/neu, CA125 in epithelial ovarian cancer.Results1 The positive rates of MUC4 expression in normal ovarian tissues ,benign ovarian tumors, borderline epithelial ovarian tumors and epithelial ovarian carcinomas were 9.1%(1/11),18.8%(3/16), 36.8%(7/19) and 69.5%(41/59), respectively. There was significantly differences among the four groups (χ~2=23.888 P<0.01), test for trend showed that the expression of MUC4 was increased with the malignant degree enhanced(trendχ~2=22.619 P<0.01).In the group of ovarian cancers, the expression of MUC4 in poorly differentiated cases was 78.6%, which was higher than that in well-moderately differentiated cases (47.1%)(χ~2=5.668 P<0.05); There was no relationship between MUC4 expression and histological type ,clinical stage, lymphatic metastasis of epithelial ovarian carcinoma(P>0.05).2 The positive rates of HER2/neu expression in borderline ovarian tumors and epithelial ovarian cancers were 5.3%(1/19)and 32.2%(19/59), no positive staining of HER2/neu was found in normal ovarian tissues and benign ovarian tumors. There was statistically differences among the four groups (χ~2=15.317 P<0.01), test for trend showed that the expression of HER2/neu was increased with the malignant degree enhanced(trendχ~2=12.590 P<0.01).In the group of malignant, the expression of HER2/neu in the cases with lymphatic metastasis was 47.8%, which was significantly higher than that without lymphatic metastasis (22.2%) (χ~2=4.214 P<0.05); the expression of HER2/neu in poorly differentiated cases was 40.5%, which was higher than that in well-moderately differentiated cases (11.8%) (χ~2=4.569 P<0.05); There was no relationship between the expression of HER2/neu and clinical stage , histological type of epithelial ovarian carcinoma (P>0.05).3 The positive rates of CA125 expression in benign ovarian tumors, borderline ovarian tumors and epithelial ovarian carcinomas were 25.0%(4/16), 31.6% (6/19) and 76.3%(45/59), respectively; No positive staining of CA125 was found in normal ovarian tissues. There was statistically differences among the four groups(χ~2=33.705 P<0.01), test for trend showed that the expression of CA125 was increased with the malignant degree enhanced(trendsχ~2=31.131 P<0.01). In the group of malignant, the expression of CA125 in poorly differentiated cases was 85.7%, which was higher than that in well-moderately differentiated cases(52.9%) (P*<0.05); the expression of CA125 in the cases with late stage was 93.3%, which was higher than that with early stage(58.6%) (χ~2=9.818 P<0.01); the expression of CA125 in the cases with lymphatic metastasis was 100%, which was higher than that without lymphatic metastasis(61.1%) (χ~2=11.727 P < 0.01); The positive rates of CA125 expression in serous adenocarcinoma,mucinous adenocarcinoma,endometrioid adenocarcinoma and clear cell adenocarcinoma were 87.5%(35/40),25%(1/4),77.8%(7/9)and 33.3%(2/6), respectively.There was statistically differences among the four groups (χ~2=14.720 P < 0.01), statistically differences was found between serous cystadenocarcinoma and mucinous cystadenocarcinoma,clear cell carcinoma by partition of chi-squared (α=0.05/6=0.0083) (χ~2serous-mucinious=9.549,P=0.002;χ~2serous-clear cell=9.727,P=0.002), no statistically differences was found among other groups of epithelial ovarian cancer(P>0.0083).4 In the group of epithelial ovarian carcinoma, agreement for the expression of MUC4 and HER2/neu ,CA125 is poor(k<0.4).Conclusions:1 The positive rates of MUC4 expression was gradually increased in normal ovarian tissues, benign ovarian tumors, borderline epithelial ovarian tumors and epithelial ovarian carcinomas .2 The expression of MUC4 in poorly differentiated cases was higher than that in well-moderately differentiated cases; there was no relationship between MUC4 expression and histological type, clinical stage, lymphatic metastasis of epithelial ovarian carcinoma.3 In the group of epithelial ovarian carcinoma, agreement for the expression of MUC4 and HER2/neu ,CA125 is poor.