Peroxiredoxin-1 as a prognostic factor in patients with ovarian cancer

Peroxiredoxin-1 (PRDX-1) belongs to a family of antioxidant enzymes and has proved to be a versatile molecule regulating cell growth, differentiation and apoptosis. PRDX1-regulated signaling pathways play an important role in the progression and metastasis of human tumours, especially in breast, esophageal and lung cancers. The aim of the study was to evaluate the expression of PRDX-1 in ovarian cancer tissues, and to test the clinical value of PRDX-1 as a prognostic factor in this malignancy.

PRDX-1 expression was assessed by automated immunohistochemistry in tumours taken from 55 patients with ovarian cancer during primary surgery. Specimen were formalin-fixed and preserved in paraffin-embedded blocks. The results were correlated with clinicopathological data.

A high expression of PRDX-1 was observed in 20% of cases, and was associated with worse compliance to chemotherapy protocol (P<0.002), worse response to chemotherapy (P<0.04), and higher levels of CA 125 after the 1^st line treatment (P<0.004). PRDX-1 positive subjects had a significantly lower 5-year disease-free survival (9.1% vs. 42.6%, P<0.01) and a lower 5-year overall survival (9.1% vs. 56.7%; P<0.002). Multivariate analysis showed that a high expression of PRDX-1 is an independent prognostic factor of poor, overall survival (P<0.002) and a disease-free survival (P<0.01).

Results of the study show that PRDX-1 expression in tumour tissues can be another biomarker of prognosis in patients with ovarian cancer.