Anti-ovarian antibodies in sera of patients with ovarian tumors

Abstract

Aim of paperThe purpose of this study was to assess the presence of anti-ovarian autoantibodies in sera of patients with ovarian tumors. Materials and methodsThe study group consisted of 82 patients treated at the Division of Gynecological Surgery, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland in 2007–2011. 46 patients with malignant ovarian tumors and 36 patients diagnosed with benign ovarian tumor were included into the study. Age-matched healthy control groups consisted of 15 women and 19 men. Anti-ovarian autoantibodies in serum were assessed with the use of indirect immunofluorescence. The presence of anti-ovarian autoantibodies in serum was correlated with clinical and histopathological features of the disease. ResultsSerum anti-ovarian autoantibodies were found in 59% (27/46) of patients with malignant ovarian tumors, compared to 55% (20/36) and 26% (4/15) of patients with benign ovarian tumors and healthy female controls respectively. The difference was statistically significant (P=0.04). All serum samples from the male controls were negative. Anti-ovarian antibodies occurred more often among advanced stage (III and IV stage according to FIGO, P=0.037) and grade 3 (P=0.049) ovarian cancers, however, there were no differences in median progression-free survival (P=0.388). The presence of anti-ovarian antibodies was neither influenced by histopathological type of the tumor, menopausal status, presence of ascites nor CA125 levels. Seropositivity for anti-ovarian antibodies was correlated positively with patients’ age and negatively with tumor size. ConclusionsAnti-ovarian autoantibodies develop with higher frequency in ovarian cancer comparing to healthy controls, however with similar proportion to benign ovarian tumors patients. The presence of antibodies against normal ovarian tissue correlates with ovarian cancer aggressiveness.