Abstract
BackgroundAldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) is widely used as a specific cancer stem cell marker in a variety of cancers, and may become a promising target for cancer therapy. However, the role of its expression in tumor cells and the microenvironment in different cancers is still controversial.MethodsTo clarify the clinicopathological effect of ALDH1 expression in ovarian carcinoma, a series of 248 cases of paraffin-embedded formalin fixed ovarian carcinoma tissues with long term follow-up information were studied by immunohistochemistry.ResultsThe immunostaining of ALDH1was variably detected in both tumor cells and the stromal cells, although the staining in tumor cells was not as strong as that in stromal cells. Statistical analyses showed that high ALDH1 expression in tumor cells was significantly associated with histological subtypes, early FIGO stage, well differentiation grade and better survival probability (p < 0.05). The expression of ALDH1 in the stromal cells had no clinicopathological associations in the present study (p > 0.05).ConclusiomsHigh expression of cancer stem cell marker ALDH1 in ovarian carcinoma cells may thus portend a favorable prognosis, but its expression in tumor microenvironment may have no role in tumor behavior of ovarian carcinomas. More studies are warranted to find out the mechanisms for this.
Highlights
Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) is widely used as a specific cancer stem cell marker in a variety of cancers, and may become a promising target for cancer therapy
ALDH1 was variably detected in clinical ovarian carcinoma samples Immunoreactive ALDH1 was variably detected in the ovarian carcinoma cells and the stromal cells in all the ovarian primary tumor samples (Fig. 1)
Endothelial cells of blood vessel were always positive for ALDH1
Summary
Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) is widely used as a specific cancer stem cell marker in a variety of cancers, and may become a promising target for cancer therapy. The role of its expression in tumor cells and the microenvironment in different cancers is still controversial. Ovarian carcinoma remains the most mortality in gynecologic tumors [1]. There are 225,000 new cases diagnosed and 140,000 deaths of ovarian carcinoma annually worldwide [1]. The standard treatment remains surgery followed by platinum-based chemotherapy [2]. Acquired drug resistance and cancer recurrence become the main hurdles for ovarian carcinoma treatment currently [3]. New reagents targeting the chemo-resistant cells are needed. Aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDH) are a group of enzymes that catalyse dehydrogenation of aldehydes to their
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