The prognostic significance and immuno-expression of survivin, mutant p₅₃ and bcl-2 in 92 cases of epithelial ovarian cancer

Background: Survivin is a member of the inhibitors of apoptosis protein family, commonly detected in human cancers and fetal tissue, with the ability to regulate programmed cell death and cell division. Aim of this study is to investigate the immuno-expression of survivin and its correlation with other anti-apoptotic markers (mutant p₅₃ and bcl-2) in human ovarian cancer and assess the prognostic significance and possible therapeutic role of this protein in the future. Materials and Methods: Ninety-two cases of primary epithelial ovarian cancer over a 10-year period were included in the study. Sixty-six cases were diagnosed with serous ovarian cancer and twenty-six with endometrioid. All cases were fixed in formalin and paraffin-embedded standard techniques and processed by an immunostain method, in order to assess the survivin-positive cases and their prevalence in nucleus or cytoplasm. Results: Survivin cytoplasmic immuno-expression is associated with more advanced stage and grade of the ovarian disease. Nuclear survivin was more pronounced in tumors with better prognosis. Mutant p₅₃ and bcl-2 were also positively co-expressed and associated with poor survival rate in all cases of serous ovarian carcinoma. Neither survivin nor bcl-2 were expressed in any case of endometrioid ovarian cancer. Conclusion: Survivin can play a key role as a potential future tumor marker to determine prognosis and predict response to various therapies.

Survivin; p53; Bcl-2; Prognosis; Ovary; Cancer

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