High α B-crystallin and p53 co-expression is associated with poor prognosis in ovarian cancer

The present study investigated the correlation between α B-crystallin (CRYAB, HSPB5) and p53 expression in ovarian cancer and further analyzed the relationship between their expression and clinicopathology and the prognostic value of their co-expression in ovarian cancer.

CRYAB and p53 expression was assessed using immunohistochemistry on ovarian cancer tumor tissues from 103 cases and validated in an independent group of 103 ovarian cancer patients.

High CRYAB and p53 expression rates in ovarian cancer tissues were 61.17% (63/103) and 57.28% (59/103), respectively, and their expression was positively correlated (r = 0.525, P=0.000). High CRYAB expression was significantly correlated with tumor size (P=0.028), lymph node metastasis (P=0.000), distant metastasis (P=0.005), tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage (P=0.002), and survival (P=0.000), while high p53 expression was significantly correlated with tumor size (P=0.006), pathological grade (P=0.023), lymph node metastasis (P=0.001), and survival (P=0.000). Further studies found that the high CRYAB and p53 co-expression was also significantly correlated with pathological grade (P=0.024), lymph node metastasis (P=0.000), Distant metastasis (P=0.015), TNM stage (P=0.013), and survival (P=0.000). High expression of either CRYAB or p53 and high co-expression of CRYAB and p53 were significantly correlated with poor disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS), respectively (P<0.05). Patients with high CRYAB and p53 co-expression had the worst prognoses among the groups. In addition, multivariate Cox regression models showed that high expression of either CRYAB or p53 and high co-expression of CRYAB and p53 were independent prognostic factors for DFS and OS (P<0.05). Moreover, the positive correlation and prognostic value of CRYAB and p53 expression were verified in another independent dataset.

We demonstrated that patients with high CRYAB and p53 co-expression in ovarian cancer have significantly increased risks of recurrence, metastasis, and death compared with other patients. Therefore, more frequent follow-up of patients with high CRYAB and p53 co-expression is required. Our results also suggest that combination therapy with CRYAB inhibitors and p53 blockers may benefit future treatment of ovarian cancer patients with high co-expression of CRYAB and p53.