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Updated: Jun 13, 2026
Quantitation of Intra-peritoneal Ovarian Cancer Metastasis
Published on: July 18, 2016
Changes in Ki-67 labeling indices during neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer are associated with
Martin Pölcher1, Nicolaus Friedrichs, Christian Rudlowski
1Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Center for Integrated Oncology, University of Bonn, Medical Center, Bonn, Germany. martin.poelcher@ukb.uni-bonn.de
Objective:
To evaluate changes in Ki-67 expression during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in advanced ovarian cancer.
Materials And Methods:
Patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IIIC or IV and large-volume ascites were treated with NACT within a phase 2 trial. The expression of Ki-67 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry on paraffin-embedded tissue samples and classified by percentage of stained cells. Survival curves were plotted using the Kaplan-Meier method.
Results:
Comparison of 40 individual paired results from pretreatment and posttreatment samples revealed a median difference of -0.11 in the Ki-67 index (95% confidence interval, -0.20 to -0.01; P = 0.005, signed rank test). Univariate analysis identified a high Ki-67 index as well as an increasing Ki-67 index after NACT as significant prognostic markers for progression-free survival (P = 0.004 and P = 0.001; log-rank test). Six of 12 patients with an increased Ki-67 index after NACT developed recurrence within 6 months after therapy.
Conclusions:
Changes of the Ki-67 index during NACT are associated with progression-free survival. If confirmed in prospective trials, an increasing Ki-67 index during preoperative treatment may serve as an indicator for resistance to chemotherapy.