Expressions and clinical significance of pAkt1 and hTERT in epithelial ovarian carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the expressions and prognostic significance of phosphorylation of protein kinase B1 (pAkt1) and human telomere reverse transcriptase (hTERT) in epithelial ovarian carcinoma. Methods The expressions of pAkt1 and hTERT were examined by immunohistochemical SP method in 72 cases of epithelial ovarian carcinoma and 10 normal endometrial tissues to analyze the correlation between pAkt1 and hTERT and their relationships with clinic-pathological features and prognosis. Results The positive expression rate of pAkt1 in epithelial ovarian carcinoma was 73.6%, and the positive expression rate of hTERT was 56.9%, compared with normal ovarian tissues, with statistical significance (χ2=20.814, P<0.001; χ2=11.389, P<0.001). The expression of pAkt1 was not associated with hTERT expression (r=0.075, P=0.532) in epithelial ovarian carcinoma. The expressions of pAkt1 and hTERT in epithelial ovarian carcinoma were correlated with tumor differentiation status (χ2=6.475, P=0.011; χ2=1.370, P=0.001). The di-sease-free survival of patients with pAkt1 and hTERT positive coexpression was significantly shorter than others (8.585 months vs. 11.227 months, χ2=4.361, P=0.037), but there was no significant difference in overall survival (11.107 months∶11.695 months, χ2=0.394, P=0.530). Conclusion pAkt1 and hTERT are highly expressed in epithelial ovarian carcinoma, and high coexpression of pAkt1 and hTERT indicates poor prognosis in epithelial ovarian carcinoma. Key words: Ovarian neoplasms; Phosphorylation of protein kinase B1; Human telomere reverse transcriptase