Expression And Clinical Significance Of Kallikrein 7 And 14 In Human Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Objective:To detect the expression of kallikrein 7(KLK7)and 14(KLK14)in human epithelial ovarian cancers with different clinical stages,different histological grades and different pathologic types,and investigate the relationship between KLK7/KLK14 and clinicopathologic characters of epithelial ovarian cancers,and discuss the clinical significance of them in malignant tumors' diagnosis and treatment.Materials and Methods:1.Tissue SamplesFresh surgical specimens of human epithelial ovarian cancer were obtained from 50 patients in gynecology in Qilu hospital of shandong university between 2004,1 to 2007,6.They all had no chemotherapy and radiotherapy before surgery.22 cases of ovarian benign tumors were obtained for contrast.All specimens were made a definite diagnosis by pathology.2.Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT—PCR)method and Western-blot are employed to measure the expression of kallikrein 7(KLK7)or kallikrein 14(KLK14)mRNA and protein in human epithelial ovarian cancers.The intensity of the target bands were determined by densitometry using the Touching imaging system -Analyst program.We studied the association between KLK7/ KLK14 expression and clinicopathologic characters with the x² test and Fisher exact probabilities,and the contrast in the same group were used one-way ANOVA.P values＜0.05 were considered to be statistically significant.Results:1.Expression of KLK7 in ovarian cancers The positive expression rate of KLK7 in epithelial ovarian cancers was 82.00% (41/50),which was higher than that in benign tumor's 22.73%(5/22).And the positive expression rate of KLK7 in epithelial ovarian cancers with positivity of absorbent glands was 89.29%(25/28)and with ascites was 89.74%(35/39),which were higher than negative(P＜0.05).The expression of KLK7 in poor differentiated(G₃) tissues was significantly higher than well-differentiated(G₁,G₂)(P＜0.01),and it was significantly associated with the patients'absorbent glands and ascites(P＜0.05),but there were no difference in different clinical stages and different histological grades.2.Expression of KLK14 in ovarian cancersAlso the positive expression rate of KLK14 in epithelial ovarian cancers was 78.00% (39/50),which was higher than that in benign tumor's 45.50%(10/22,P＜0.05).And the positive expression rate of KLK14 in epithelial ovarian cancers with positivity of absorbent glands was 85.71%(24/28)and with ascites was 87.18%(34/39),which were higher than negative(P＜0.05).Expression of KLK14 in ovarian cancers had a positive correlation with the clinical stages(P＜0.05),the expression of KLK14 in advanced stage(â…¢,â…£stage)was higher than that of the earlier stage(â… ,â…¡stage,P＜0.01),and the expression of poor differentiated(G₃)tissues was higher than well-differentiated(G₁,G₂,P＜0.05),and it was associated with the patients'absorbent glands and ascites,too(P＜0.05).Conclusions:1.The expression of KLK7 in ovarian cancers was significantly higher than that in benign tumor,and it was associated with the histological grades.2.The expression of KLK14 in ovarian cancers was higher than that in benign tumor, and it was significantly associated with the patients'advanced stages of disease,higher tumor grades,positivity of absorbent glands and ascites.3.KLK7 and KLK14 maybe a novel biological marker for diagnosing and monitoring the ovarian cancer in clinic,it will have prognostic value in epithelial ovarian cancer.