Proteoglycans are ubiquitous components of the extracellular matrix and cell surface, and may mediate tumor progression and metastasis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of syndecan-1 and versican in epithelial ovarian cancer. We immunohistochemically evaluated the expression of syndecan-1 and versican in 111 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer, and analyzed the correlation of this expression with various observed clinicopathological features, including patient outcome. There is a significant correlation between primary and metastatic sites with respect to syndecan-1 and versican expression. Epithelial syndecan-1 expression was significantly lower in patients with advanced disease. Epithelial versican expression was significantly higher in patients with early disease, especially in clear cell adenocarcinoma patients. Stromal syndecan-1 and versican expression was significantly higher in patients with advanced disease. Multivariate analysis showed that negative epithelial syndecan-1 expression was an independent prognostic factor for progression-free survival. Stromal syndecan-1 and versican co-expression was of borderline significance for progression-free and overall survival. Loss of epithelial syndecan-1 expression and induction of stromal syndecan-1 and versican expression may be associated with tumor progression in epithelial ovarian cancer. Syndecan-1 and versican expression status can serve as an indicator of prognosis in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.

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