Expression and clinical significance of Claudin-4 in human serous ovarian cancer

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of Claudin-4 in human serous ovarian cancer. Methods 43 cases of serous ovarian cancer from Oct. 2008 to May 2014 were studied. Real-time quantitative PCR(qRT-PCR)was applied to detect mRNA expression of Claudin-4 in serous ovarian cancer(n=43)in comparison to the corresponding tumor-adjacent tissues. The protein expression of Claudin-4 was measured by immunohistochemistry(IHC). Results mRNA and protein expression level of Claudin-4 was significantly higher in serous ovarian cancer tissues than in adjacent normal tissues(P<0.05). The high expression of Claudin-4 protein was also associated with large tumor size, lymphatic metastasis, and advanced TNM stage(P<0.05). Conclusions The expression of Claudin-4 is significantly higher in serous ovarian cancer tissues than in the adjacent normal tissues, and it is associated with clinicopathological features. Claudin-4 may become a new marker in early diagnosis and biological target therapy. Key words: Claudin-4; Serous ovarian cancer; mRNA; Protein