OBJECTIVETo study the expression and clinicopathologic significance of cancer stem cell markers CD44v6 and CD24 in ovarian serous carcinoma tissues.

METHODSOne hundred and two cases of ovarian carcinoma diagnosed during the period from June, 2001 to December, 2010 were retrieved from archival files. The histology slides were reviewed and a two-tier system for grading of ovarian serous carcinoma was applied. The expression of CD44v6 and CD24 was detected by immunohistochemistry using EnVision method. The relationship between CD44v6/CD24 expression and various clinicopathologic parameters was analyzed.

RESULTSThere were 46.1% (47/102) and 59.8% (61/102) cases expressing CD44v6 and CD24, respectively. Both CD44v6 and CD24 expression showed positive correlation with higher histopathologic grade (P = 0.003 and P < 0.05, respectively). CD24 expression also correlated with the presence of lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant relationship between the expression of these two markers (χ(2) = 0.394, P = 0.530). The age of the patients, histopathologic grade, clinical stage and nodal status correlated with progression-free survival time (P < 0.05). CD44v6 expression and histopathologic grade correlated with the overall survival time (P < 0.05). Patient age was an independent poor prognostic factor by multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSIONSCD44v6 expression, age older than 50 years, high clinical stage and presence of lymph node metastasis are associated with poor prognosis in patients with ovarian serous carcinoma. The two-tier system for grading of ovarian serous carcinoma is useful in predicting survival; and high tumor grade represents an important poor prognostic indicator for ovarian serous carcinoma.

Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; CD24 Antigen ; metabolism ; Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hyaluronan Receptors ; metabolism ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Grading ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Neoplasm Staging ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult