PDCD1 strengthens the sensitivity of ovarian cancer to cisplatin chemotherapy by promoting apoptosis.

PURPOSE: The primary purpose of this study was to make clear the role of PDCD1 in the occurrence and progression of ovarian cancer, and explain its mechanism. METHODS: RT-PCR, westem blot, MTT and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression levels of PDCD1 mRNA and protein in human ovarian cancer cell lines (SKOV3, 3AO, CAOV3 and OVCAR3), human normal ovary, serous cystadenoma, and serous cystadenocarcinoma tissue. SKOV3, SKOV3-MOCK, and SKOV3-PDCD1 cells were subcutaneously injected into the armpit of nude mice to observe the effect of PDCD1 expression on tumorigenic ability. Cisplatin, carboplatin, cyclophosphamide, etoposide and paclitaxel were used in the experiments. RESULTS: PDCD1 was lowly expressed in SKOV3 and 3AO, moderately expressed in CAOV3, and highly expressed in OVCAR3. PDCD1 significantly inhibited the proliferation and clone formation ability of the ovarian carcinoma cell line SKOV3. In the SKOV3-PDCD1 group, the tumor formation rate decreased significantly and the tumor formation time prolonged significantly. The CAOV3 and OVCAR3 cells with high expression of PDCD1 were more sensitive to cisplatin. The SKOV3 and 3AO cells with low expression of PDCD1 were less sensitive to cisplatin. Compared with the SKOV3- MOCK control group, the apoptosis rate and the expression levels of the caspase-3/8 proteins activity increased significantly in the PDCD1 overexpression group. The expression levels of caspase-9 and Bax increased slightly. No significant changes were observed in the expression of Bcl-2. CONCLUSION: The expression of PDCD1 decreased significantly in human ovarian cancer. Overexpression of PDCD1 can inhibit the proliferation capacity of ovarian cancer. PDCD1 strengthens the sensitivity of ovarian cancer to cisplatin by promoting cisplatin-induced apoptosis.

Genetic polymorphisms in the Fas and FasL genes are associated with epithelial ovarian cancer risk and clinical outcomes.

AIM: In this study, we evaluated whether functional polymorphisms within the Fas and FasL genes were associated with the risk of developing epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and survival of patients with EOC. METHODS: A case-control study was performed in 342 EOC patients and 344 control women. The genotypes of three promoter region polymorphisms (Fas -1377G/A, -670A/G and FasL -844T/C) were determined using ligase detection reaction-polymerase chain reaction (LDR-PCR). The clinical outcomes in 202 EOC patients were compared across genotypes. RESULTS: The genotype frequencies of the FasL -844 T/C polymorphism were significantly different between the case and control groups (P=0.034). Compared to the T/T and T/C genotypes, the C/C genotype significantly increased the risk of developing EOC (OR=1.46, 95% CI=1.08-1.99). The survival analysis showed that the Fas -1377G/A and -670A/G polymorphisms were related to prognosis in EOC patients. Compared with patients with the G/G genotype of the -1377G/A polymorphism, patients carrying the A allele had a shorter PFS and OS, as determined by univariate and multivariate analysis (HR=1.81, 95% CI=1.26-2.62 and HR=1.86, 95% CI=1.15-3.00, respectively). Similarly, Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard model analyses indicated that patients carrying the G allele of Fas -670A/G polymorphisms had shorter PFS and OS than those carrying the AA genotype (HR=1.67, 95% CI=1.15-2.42 and HR=1.80, 95% CI=1.10-2.94, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Functional polymorphisms in the Fas and FasL genes may be involved in epithelial ovarian cancer development and progression in northern Chinese women.

[Polymorphisms of ERCC1 gene and outcomes in epithelial ovarian cancer patients with platinum-based chemotherapy].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship among single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of excision repair cross-complementing 1(ERCC1) gene, chemotherapy sensitivity and clinical outcomes of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients treated with platinum. METHODS: Six tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (tagSNP;rs11615, rs3212986, rs735482, rs3212955, rs12610134 and rs3212958) were chose from ERCC1 gene. The genotypes of 6 tagSNP were determined by Snapshot method in 220 EOC patients. Primary clinical outcomes parameter contained EOC patients' responses to platinum-based chemotherapy, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were analysed. RESULTS: The rs11615 C/T SNP of ERCC1, CC, CT and TT genotype frequencies were 53.1%, 45.6%, 1.4% in responders to platinum-based chemotherapy, while 52.0%, 35.6%, 12.3% in non-responders, respectively, in which there was significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.002) . Compared with the patients with CC genotype, the patients carrying TT genotype had a significantly poor response to platinum-based chemotherapy (OR = 6.22, 95%CI:1.12-34.42). Similarly, the genotypes frequencies distribution of rs11615 C/T SNP of ERCC1 was different between the recurrence and non-recurrence group, death and survival group (all P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the genotypes frequencies distribution of rs11615 C/T SNP of ERCC1 was associated with PFS and OS (P < 0.01) of EOC patients. Cox's multivariate analysis suggested that patients with TT genotype had a shorter PFS (HR = 2.19, 95%CI:1.14-4.22, P = 0.009) and OS (HR = 2.22, 95%CI:1.06-4.64, P = 0.021) compared with those carrying CC genotype [adjusting for age, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, pathological type, grade and tumor residual size]. The genotypes frequencies distribution of rs3212986, rs735482, rs3212955, rs12610134 and rs3212958 SNP of ERCC1 did not show the significant difference between the responders to platinum-based chemotherapy and non-responders. The other 5 tagSNP may not be associated with the PFS and OS of EOC patients (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The rs11615 SNP of ERCC1 may become a valuable prognostic biomarker for EOC patients treated with platinum-based chemotherapy.