Expression of zinc finger E‑box‑binding homeobox factor 1 in epithelial ovarian cancer: A clinicopathological analysis of 238 patients

Li,Xiufang; Huang,Ruixia; Li,Ruth Holm; Trope,Claes G.; Nesland,Jahn M.; Suo,Zhenhe

doi:10.3892/mco.2015.662

Expression of zinc finger E‑box‑binding homeobox factor 1 in epithelial ovarian cancer: A clinicopathological analysis of 238 patients

Authors:
- Xiufang Li
- Ruixia Huang
- Ruth Holm Li
- Claes G. Trope
- Jahn M. Nesland
- Zhenhe Suo
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Affiliations: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 455000, P.R. China, Department of Pathology, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, 0424 Oslo, Norway, Department of Pathology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, 0316 Oslo, Norway, Department of Gynaecology, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, 0424 Oslo, Norway
Published online on: October 23, 2015 https://doi.org/10.3892/mco.2015.662
Pages: 18-22
Copyright: © Li et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

A growing body of evidence indicates that aberrant activation of epithelial‑to‑mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a key role in tumor cell invasion and metastasis. Zinc finger E‑box‑binding homeobox factor 1 (ZEB1), as a crucial mediator of EMT, contributes to the malignant progression of various epithelial tumors. To determine whether ZEB1 is involved in the progression of ovarian cancer, we immunohistochemically evaluated the expression of ZEB1 in 238 cases of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and analyzed its associations with clinicopathological parameters. Positive expression of ZEB1 was observed in 32.8% (78/238) of EOCs and it was found to be significantly associated with advanced tumor stage (P=0.001). The survival analysis indicated that the expression of ZEB1 was associated with a poor 5‑year progression‑free survival (PFS) (P=0.021). A similar tendency was also observed between the expression of ZEB1 and 5‑year overall survival, although it did not reach statistical significance (P=0.118). Moreover, the multivariate analysis demonstrated that ZEB1 expression was an independent risk factor for 5‑year PFS in ovarian cancer. Taken together, our data provide evidence that ZEB1 may play a crucial role in promoting aggressive ovarian carcinoma progression. Therefore, ZEB1 may serve as an effectively predictive marker and a potential target for therapeutic intervention in EOC.

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