SOX2 Expression and Prognostic Significance in Ovarian Carcinoma

Abstract

The transcription factor SOX2 has been extensively studied for its role in embryonic stem cell self-renewal and pluripotency. More recent data suggest oncogenic functions of SOX2 and demonstrate expression in several carcinoma types, predominantly of squamous cell origin. The gene SOX2 is located at chromosome 3q26, a region that is frequently amplified in ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma. In this study, we correlate SOX2 protein expression and gene-amplification status in ovarian carcinomas with histopathologic criteria and disease outcome. A total of 215 cases of ovarian carcinomas (154 serous, 39 endometrioid, 11 clear cell, 5 mucinous, and 6 transitional cell carcinomas) were analyzed by immunohistochemistry in a tissue microarray for nuclear expression of SOX2. A total of 60.5% of all carcinomas showed SOX2 expression with no significant difference between the major histologic types. Interestingly, SOX2 expression was predominantly a feature of high-grade tumors (G1: 36.4%, G2: 55.6%, G3: 64.0%, P=0.040). In 21.2% of these cases, fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis detected low-level SOX2 gene amplification which was not significantly associated with SOX2 protein expression. However, survival analysis of Stage II to IV high-grade serous carcinomas revealed a favorable effect of SOX2 expression (median disease-free survival 27 vs. 21 mo, P=0.041; median overall survival 39 vs. 25 mo, P=0.062). Further studies are needed to explore whether expression of SOX2 has a specific role in prognosis and therapy response.

SOX2 Expression Associates with Stem Cell State in Human Ovarian Carcinoma

“…In SOC, high SOX2 protein expression is associated with histopathologically and clinically aggressive disease (18,19,46). Similar as in breast carcinoma (13), we found that SOX2 þ expressing ovarian carcinomas display a heterogeneous expression pattern with mostly less than 10% of tumor cells expressing SOX2 protein, indicating that SOX2 might preferentially regulate the ovarian CSC compartment.…”

Overexpression of TRPM7 is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Human Ovarian Carcinoma

“…Finally, the slides were counterstained with hematoxylin, dehydrated, cleared and then mounted with Permount mounting medium (Fisher Scientific, PA). TRPM7 staining was scored independently by two pathologists and was calculated using a previously defined scoring system (Pham et al, 2013;Qiu et al, 2013). Briefly, the proportion of positive tumor cell was scored as: 0 = less than 5%; 1+ =5%-20 %; 2+ = 21%-50 %; and 3+ > 50 %.…”

Stemness-related markers in cancer

“…SOX2 has been found in brain, breast, lung, liver, prostate, and testicular tumors [12, 18, 19]; and its expression has been correlated with poor prognosis in stage I lung adenocarcinoma [18], squamous cell carcinoma [20, 21], gastric carcinoma [22-24], small cell lung cancer [25-28], and ovarian carcinoma [29, 30]. …”