Expression and prognostic value of matriptase in ovarian serous adenocarcinoma

Previous studies have demonstrated that matriptase is involved in degradation of the extracellular matrix and angiogenesis, and is overexpressed in certain forms of epithelial cancer. The present study aimed to examine matriptase expression in ovarian serous adenocarcinoma, and to investigate its association with clinicopathological characteristics and patient prognosis. Matriptase expression was analyzed in 80 ovarian serous adenocarcinoma and 12 normal ovarian tissue samples by immunohistochemistry. All data were analyzed to evaluate the association between matriptase expression and clinicopathological parameters and overall survival. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that matriptase protein was significantly overexpressed in the ovarian serous adenocarcinoma tissues compared with the normal ovarian tissues (P=0.0003). Furthermore, matriptase expression was significantly associated with clinical stage (P=0.0077) and lymph node metastasis (P=0.0111). Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated that patients with positive matriptase expression had significantly greater survival times (P=0.0008). Matriptase expression is associated with early stage and a greater survival time; therefore, this protein may function as a novel diagnostic and prognostic marker.