Significance of hyaluronan binding protein (HABP1/P32/gC1qR) expression in advanced serous ovarian cancer patients

Abstract

BackgroundTo evaluate various risk factors related to the overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) in 131 patients with stage III–IV ovarian serous carcinoma. MethodsAll patients underwent primary debulking surgery followed by a standard chemotherapeutic treatment regimen. Hyaluronan binding protein (HABP1) expression was evaluated using immunohistochemical-staining and assessed using western-immunoblotting analyses. A log-rank test was used to compare OS and PFS between cisplatin sensitive versus resistant patients. Multivariate analyses were used to identify risk factors associated with OS and PFS. ResultsHABP1 over-expression was correlated to histological-differentiation, residual-tumor-size, serum CA-125 levels and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that increased expression of HABP1 was associated with cisplatin resistance. HABP1 low-expression resulted in an increased five-year OS and PFS. Cox proportional hazards test identified that high expression of HABP1 led to increased risk for stage III/IV serous ovarian cancer via poor OS and PFS. This was similar for cisplatin resistant patients. Thus, increased HABP1 immunoreactivity in ovarian cancer may lead to a shortening in disease-free intervals of patients. ConclusionHAPBP1 over-expression in primary ovarian carcinomas is related to a decrease in OS and PFS and may be utilized as a prognostic marker for stage III/IV patients.