TY - JOUR AB - Aurora kinase A (AURKA) regulates the cell cycle checkpoint and maintains genomic integrity. AURKA is overexpressed in various malignant tumors and its upregulation induces chromosomal instability, which leads to aneuploidy and cell transformation. To investigate the role of AURKA in endometrial cancer, we evaluated the association of immunohistochemical expression of AURKA with clinicopathological factors. Furthermore, we examined the effects of AURKA inhibition by transfected siRNA in HEC‑1B cells on colony‑forming ability, invasion and migration capacity, and chemosensitivity. Immunohistochemical staining showed that overexpression of AURKA was significantly associated with tumor grade (P<0.05) and poor histologic differentiation (P<0.05). The recurrence rate also tended to be high in cases with overexpression of AURKA (P<0.1) and these cases also had a tendency for shorter disease‑free survival (DFS) (P<0.1). AURKA inhibition in endometrial cancer cell lines significantly decreased cell growth, invasion and migration (P<0.05), and increased chemosensitivity to paclitaxel. We also evaluated the efficacy of a combination of AURKA siRNA and paclitaxel against subcutaneous tumors formed in a nude mouse. After treatment, the tumor volume shrank significantly compared to treatment with paclitaxel only (P<0.05). To our knowledge, this is the first study in endometrial carcinoma to show a correlation between overexpression of AURKA and tumor grade, histological type and sensitivity to paclitaxel. AURKA is a promising therapeutic target in endometrial cancer and the combination therapy with AURKA inhibitors and paclitaxel could be effective for endometrial cancer that is resistant to conventional treatment and has a poor prognosis. AD - Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan AU - Umene,Kiyoko AU - Yanokura,Megumi AU - Banno,Kouji AU - Irie,Haruko AU - Adachi,Masataka AU - Iida,Miho AU - Nakamura,Kanako AU - Nogami,Yuya AU - Masuda,Kenta AU - Kobayashi,Yusuke AU - Tominaga,Eiichiro AU - Aoki,Daisuke DA - 2015/04/01 DO - 10.3892/ijo.2015.2842 EP - 1506 IS - 4 JO - Int J Oncol KW - Aurora kinase A endometrial cancer chemosensitivity paclitaxel PY - 2015 SN - 1019-6439 1791-2423 SP - 1498 ST - Aurora kinase A has a significant role as a therapeutic target and clinical biomarker in endometrial cancer T2 - International Journal of Oncology TI - Aurora kinase A has a significant role as a therapeutic target and clinical biomarker in endometrial cancer UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2015.2842 VL - 46 ER -