Clinicopathology of EpCAM and EGFR in human epithelial ovarian carcinoma

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The objective of this study was to explore the expression of EpCAM and EGFR in human epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and their correlation with clinicopathological parameters.</jats:p><jats:p>The protein expression levels of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) were evaluated by immunohistochemistry in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens from 30 patients with epithelial ovarian carcinoma and 15 normal ovary tissues. Clinicopathological characteristics were gathered by retrospective review of the patients’ files. The correlation between EpCAM and EGFR expression, as well as their association with clinical pathological parameters were investigated. The SPSS 17.0 package was used to perform statistical analyses.</jats:p><jats:p>The positive expression rates of EpCAM and EGFR were significantly elevated in epithelial ovarian cancer tissues than in normal ovary tissues. The positive expressions of EpCAM and EGFR in EOC were associated with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage and tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis. Spearman correlation analysis demonstrated a significant positive association between EpCAM and EGFR expression in EOC.</jats:p><jats:p>The co-expression of EpCAM and EGFR may play an important role in the carcinogenesis of EOC and might provide a promising molecular therapeutic target.</jats:p>

EpCAM Expression in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: Immunohistochemical and Histopathological Study

“…The age range in the current study was 35 to 72 years, with a mean age of 50.4 (8.1 years) and a median of 48 years. The correlation between the age incidence and EpCAM expression was statistically significant (p-value=0.006), which was slightly different from the study performed by Tayama et al, [16] , in which the age range in the EpCAM-high group was between 27 and 87 years with a median of 55.0 years, while in the EpCAMlow group was between 22 to 79 years with a median of 51 years (p-value=0.331), and was in disagreement with the study that was performed by Zheng et al, [7] , who detected an insignificant correlation between EpCAM expression and age (p-value >0.05).…”

“…More than half of the cases (n=23; 54.7%) showed high (IRS score 6) and am fewer cases (n=19; 45.2%) showed low expression (IRS score 4) These results come in accordance with Spizzo et al, [31] who detected that ovarian cancer are high EpCAM expressers (TIS >4) in 73% (n=236) and weak EpCAM expressors (TIS 1-4) in 19% (n=63). And similar to, but lower than, the results reported by Zheng et al, [7] , who detected it in 80% of the cases studied. The lower percentage of the highly expressed cases could be attributed to the smaller comparable sample size.…”

“…OC has complicated biological behavior; therefore, the identification of new molecular therapeutic agents is increasingly needed at present for the management of OC [7] . Among them is the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) or (CD326).…”

Assessing the use of tumor-specific DARPin-toxin fusion proteins for ex vivo purging of cancer metastases from human ovarian cortex before autotransplantation

“…For the EpCAM-targeted DARPin, there was a remarkable decrease in viable and growing oocytes after treatment for day 8 of the in vitro growth culture. The detrimental effect of the EpCAM-targeted DARPin on oocytes could be explained by the expression of EpCAM on oocytes (61), which is confirmed by our immunohistochemical staining. The observation of damage only after 8 days indicates that the effect of ETA is time dependent, which is consistent with its impairment of protein synthesis.…”

IL‑6 prevents CXCL8‑induced stimulation of EpCAM expression in ovarian cancer cells

“…Positive expression of EpCAM is associated with human epithelial ovarian tumor stage and differentiation, and lymph node metastasis (23). Increased expression of EpCAM also contributes to increased viability of cancer cells in vitro and resistance to platinium-based chemotherapy in patients with ovarian cancer.…”