Expression of Salivary Immediate Early Response Gene X-1 as a Predictor of Malignancy in Epithelial Ovarian Tumor

Abstract

Objective: This diagnostic study aims to determine the expression of salivary IEX-1 as a predictor of malignancy in epithelial ovarian tumors. 
 Methods: Samples were obtained from ovarian cancer patients who were scheduled for elective surgery. Patients' saliva was collected before surgery and used as the study's research material. Research subjects who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were divided into two groups based on the post-operative histopathological results, benign and malignant epithelial ovarian tumors. The salivary IEX-1 expression was examined using the Real Time qPCR method. We compared and analyzed the salivary IEX-1 expression ​​in benign and malignant epithelial ovarian tumors. 
 Results: The results of this study were obtained from 47 epithelial ovarian tumors subjects, 22 malignant tumors and 27 benign tumors. The mean salivary IEX-1 expression in benign epithelial ovarian tumors was higher (1.976) than the malignant tumors (0.554) (p<0.001). The AUC value of IEX-1 expression was 0.949 (95% CI 0.894-1,000), cut off point of salivary IEX-1 is ≥ 0,9115 with sensitivity 84%, specificity 86,4%, positive predictive value 82.6% and negative predictive value 87.5%. There was a significant correlation between salivary IEX-1 expression and malignant epithelial ovarian tumors with an OR 5.031 (95% CI 2.039-12.4; p<0,001)
 Conclusion: Salivary IEX-1 expression declines in tandem with the development of malignant epithelial ovarian tumors, providing a very sensitive and specific indicator of the presence of these malignant tumors.
 Keywords: Expression of IEX-1, Malignant epithelial ovarian tumor, Salivary IEX-1, Tumor Marker.