The potential mechanism of chemosensitive difference between 2 types of ovarian cancer

To study the potential molecular mechanism of chemosensitive difference between human malignant epithelial and germ cell tumor of the ovary by testing the expression of p53 (mutation), Bcl-2, topoisomerase II alpha (Topo II alpha).

Immunohistochemical analysis was performed on paraffin embedded tumor tissue microarray from malignant epithelial (n=53) and germ cell tumor of the ovary (n=25) in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Second West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China from the year 2000 to 2004. The expression of p53, Bcl-2 and Topo II alpha in the 2 types of ovarian cancer was compared and data were analyzed by student t test, Wilcoxon rank sum test and Spearman rank correlation test.

The expression of p53 (mutation) in ovarian epithelial cancers (56.6%) was significantly higher than that in the malignant germ cell tumors of the ovary (28%), whereas the expression of Bcl-2 and Topo II alpha had no significant difference between the 2 groups. The expression of p53, Bcl-2 and Topo II alpha had no relationship with the Federation Internationale de Gynecologie Obstetrique (FIGO) stage. The age, FIGO stage and the chemotherapy response were significantly different between the 2 groups.

The expression of p53 in ovarian cancer was related to chemosensitivity. Our results suggest that p53 may have a role on the difference of chemosensitivity between human malignant epithelial and germ cell tumor of the ovary.