28 The Role of Immunohistochemical Expression of 1, 25-Dihydroxyvitamin-D3-Receptors in Ovarian Carcinoma

Abstract

This chapter discusses the role of immunohistochemical expression of 1,25-dihyroxyvitamin-D 3 -receptors in ovarion carcinoma. Ovarian carcinoma is a leading cause of death in gynecologic cancer. The immunohistochemical expression of Vitamin D receptor (VDR) in normal and carcinomatous ovarian tissue is analyzed to evaluate the potential target of ovarian tissue for biologically active vitamin D analogs. VDR expression is compared immunohistochemically, with the staining pattern of Ki-67, for analyzing the VDR expression in ovarian tissue for a function of proliferation. Estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) are immunohistochemically analyzed to evaluate the expression of VDR that correlates with the expression of these steroid hormone receptors. The percentage of positive tumor cells, the intensity of staining, and a resulting immuno reactivity score are determined for the semi-quantitative evaluation of VDR, ER, and PR expressions. Both the intensity of VDR immunostaining and the number of VDR-positive cells are statistically significantly increased in ovarian carcinomas (OCs) as compared to the normal ovarian tissue. By analyzing the co-expression of VDR with the proliferation marker Ki-67 or with the estrogen and progesterone receptors no statistically significant correlation is found.