A Study of β-Catenin and PTEN Expression in Ovarian Surface Epithelial Neoplasms and their Correlation with Grade and Stage in Malignant Cases

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Ovarian carcinoma is most common ovarianmalignancy which accounts for vast majority (90%) of ovariantumors. It is invariably accompanied by changes in signaltransduction pathways. The aim of the study was to evaluatethe expression of β– catenin and PTEN in diagnosed casesof ovarian surface epithelial neoplasm and correlate themto histological grade and stage of ovarian carcinoma. Studydesign: This was a cross-sectional observational study.Material and methods: The study was conducted over a periodof one year (February 2017 to July 2018). β– catenin and PTENexpression was evaluated in 50 histologically diagnosed casesof ovarian epithelial neoplasm by immunohistochemistry(IHC) using a scoring system. Statistical analysis StatisticalAnalysis was performed with help of Epi Info (TM) 7.2.2.2. Ap-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Membranous, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear β-cateninexpression was significantly higher for high grade tumors thanthat of low grade tumors. No significant association betweenβ-catenin expression and stage was found. A significantassociation of PTEN expression with tumor grade (p=0.0367)and histological subtype (p=0.03) has been found. Significantassociation of loss of PTEN expression with stage of the tumorwas also found (p=0.023). No significant correlation betweennuclear score of β-catenin and PTEN score was found.Conclusion: Considering the observations of the presentstudy, it can be concluded that β-catenin and PTEN mayplay an active role in the pathogenesis of ovarian carcinomasubtypes and they have a positive correlation with grade andstage of tumours. So, these biomarkers may be consideredas prognostic parameters and critical evaluator of targetedtherapy