Bogush TA, Basharina AA, Bogush EA, Scherbakov AM, Davydov MM, Kosorukov VS. The expression and clinical significance of ERβ/ERα in ovarian cancer: can we predict the effectiveness of platinum plus taxane therapy?
Ir J Med Sci 2021;
191:2047-2053. [PMID:
34741718 DOI:
10.1007/s11845-021-02842-6]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Estrogens play an extremely important role in regulating the proliferation of ovarian cancer. The estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) stimulates cell growth, whereas ERβ can be attributed to tumor suppressors. The study aims to assess the relationship between the expression of estrogen receptors in tumors and the efficacy of front-line platinum plus taxane chemotherapy in ovarian cancer patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
ERα and ERβ tumor expression was evaluated quantitatively by flow cytometry in a narrowly defined group (31 patients): stage III high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC), suboptimal surgical cytoreduction, front-line platinum plus taxane chemotherapy (front-line, six cycles).
RESULTS
The median of progression-free survival (PFS) was 2 times greater (18 vs 8 months, p = 0.04) and the recurrence risk (HR) was 2.2 times (95 % CI: 1.1-6.2, p = 0.04) lower in the group with high (in more than 40% of the cells) vs low level of ERβ tumor expression. The statistically significant difference between PFS in the groups with high vs low tumor ERα expression was not revealed.
CONCLUSION
A high level of ERβ and not ERα expression can predict the efficacy of front-line platinum plus taxane chemotherapy in stage III HGSOC patients. The status of estrogen receptor beta can be considered as one of the possible predictors for evaluating the effectiveness of ovarian cancer therapy.
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