Pre-operative plasma VEGF-C levels portend recurrence in epithelial ovarian cancer patients and is a bankable prognostic marker even in the initial assessment of a patient

PURPOSE

Our explorative study assessed a panel of molecules for their association with epithelial ovarian carcinomas and their prognostic implications. The panel included tissue expression of VEGF-C, COX-2, Ki-67 and eNOS alongside plasma levels of VEGF-C and nitric oxide.

METHODS

130 cases were enrolled in the study. Plasma levels were quantified by ELISA and tissue expressions were scored by immunohistochemistry. The Chi square and Fischer's exact test were applied to examine the impact of markers on clinicopathological factors. Non-parametric Spearman's rank correlation test was applied to define the association among test factors.

RESULTS

Plasma VEGF-C levels and COX-2 tissue expression strongly predicted recurrence and poor prognosis (< 0.001). Tissue Ki-67 was strongly indicative of late-stage disease (< 0.001). The aforementioned markers significantly associated with clinicopathological factors. Nuclear staining of VEGF-C was intriguing and was observed to correlate with high grade-stage malignancies, highly elevated plasma VEGF-C, and with recurrence. eNOS tissue expression showed no significant impact while nitric oxide associated positively with ascites levels. Tissue expression of VEGF-C did not associate significantly with poor prognosis although the expression was highly upregulated in most of the cases.

CONCLUSION

Plasma VEGF-C holds immense promise as a prognostic marker and the nuclear staining of VEGF-C seems to have some significant implication in molecular carcinogenesis and is a novel finding that commands further robust scrutiny. We present a first such study that assesses a set of biomarkers for prognostic implications in clinical management of epithelial ovarian carcinomas in a pan-Indian (Asian) population.

Diagnostic value of plasma-derived exosomal miR-223 for epithelial ovarian cancer

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the diagnostic value of plasma exosomal miR-223 and its combination with CA125 for the diagnosis of early-stage epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Exosomes derived from the plasma of 78 EOC patients, 40 patients with epithelial benign ovarian tumors, and 52 healthy participants were isolated using the ultracentrifugation method and identified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and western blot.

RESULTS

The expression of exosomal miR-223 was significantly upregulated in the plasma of EOC patients compared to that in healthy subjects and patients with benign diseases. The combination of exosomal miR-223 and CA125 from plasma had an equivalent area under the ROC curve (AUC) to CA125 alone for discriminating between EOC and non-EOC cases, including healthy subjects and benign ovarian tumors. However, the AUC value of the combination was 0.944 (95% CI: 0.899-0.990) for differentially diagnosing early-stage EOC from healthy subjects, slightly higher than that of CA125 alone (0.928, 95% CI: 0.875-0.981), with a sensitivity and specificity of 0.9784 and 0.885, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Our data suggest that plasma exosomal miR-223 can be used as a complement to CA125 to increase the diagnostic power for differentiating early-stage EOC from healthy subjects.

Correlation of Pattern of Spread and Outcomes in Advanced Epithelial Ovarian Cancers

The purpose of this study was to correlate the pattern of spread with oncological outcomes in advanced ovarian cancer patients. This is a retrospective analysis of 55 consecutive patients who had advanced epithelial ovarian cancer or primary peritoneal carcinomatosis (stages 3C and 4) with primary surgical intervention as the initial modality of treatment. Based on the spread of disease, they were further classified into class A: disease confined to the pelvis (excluded); class B: disease extending to the lower abdomen and omentum; class C: diffuse small-bowel disease with or without A, B, or D; and class D: disease in the upper abdomen. There were 17 patients (30.9%) in class B, 17 (30.9%) in class C, and 21 (38.2%) in class D. The number of patients with suboptimal cytoreduction was highest in class C (six patients). At the end of follow-up (median 38.6 months), 16 patients had no evidence of disease and 26 patients were alive with disease. The 3-year overall survival rates in classes B, C, and D were 94.1, 52.5, and 93.3%, respectively. The 3-year progression-free survival rates were 55.8, 11.8, and 41.9%, respectively. The rates were lowest for class C. The differences in the overall survival rate (p < 0.001) and progression-free survival rate (p = 0.001) were statistically significant. In advanced ovarian cancer patients, the presence of disease in the small-bowel serosa and mesentery results in poorer outcomes in terms of overall and progression-free survival. The number of patients with suboptimal cytoreduction was also highest in this group.