Abstract

Background: New prognostic and predictive biomarkers for better choice and improving the current therapies for ovarian cancer are greatly needed. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic and therapeutic importance of lysyl oxidase (LOX) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) expressions in epithelial ovarian carcinoma.
Methods: We performed immunohistochemical analysis on formalin-fixed paraffin sections of epithelial ovarian tumors. The association between their expressions in epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) with the survival as well as response to chemotherapy was analyzed.
Results: The frequency of the nuclear expression of LOX and cytoplasmic expression of COX2 was significantly higher in malignant tumors than in benign and borderline tumors. Also, there were statistically significant relationships between pathological grades and both LOX and COX2 positivity in EOC being at the higher end for poorly differentiated tumors. Both LOX and COX2 expressions were also correlated significantly with higher tumor stage. Overexpression of either LOX or COX2 in EOC was significantly associated with poor survival. Moreover, LOX and COX2 positive expressions in EOC were associated with poor response to chemotherapy.
Conclusions: The increased expressions of LOX and COX2 in EOC are associated with several adverse clinicopathologic parameters, including reduced survival and chemotherapy resistance thus suggesting a role for such biomarkers in disease progression.

Key words: cancer, cyclooxygenase 2, lysyl oxidase, ovary, prognosis