Glypican-3 expression in primary and recurrent ovarian carcinomas

Int J Gynecol Pathol. 2007 Jul;26(3):341-4. doi: 10.1097/pgp.0b013e31802d692c.

Abstract

The identification of glypican-3 (GPC3) expression in malignant neoplasms is potentially of interest because GPC3 might represent a therapeutic target. Tissue microarrays containing tissue cylinders from 308 patients with ovarian carcinomas were used for an immunohistochemical study. There were 255 serous, 38 endometrioid, and 15 clear-cell carcinomas included. From 76 patients, paired tissue samples of primary serous ovarian carcinomas and their corresponding recurrences after platinum-based chemotherapy were available. Glypican-3 was expressed in a total of 17.9% of ovarian carcinomas and was strongly associated with the clear-cell histotype (P = 0.0001). Glypican-3 expression was not associated with tumor stage. Positive staining for GPC3 was also observed in a significant fraction of recurrent carcinomas but was not particularly associated with chemoresponse. In conclusion, our data show that GPC3 is observed in a significant fraction of primary and corresponding recurrent ovarian carcinomas. Glypican-3 may therefore represent a potential target for (second-line) therapy in ovarian cancer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Carcinoma / metabolism*
  • Carcinoma / pathology
  • Female
  • Glypicans / biosynthesis*
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / metabolism*
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / pathology
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / pathology
  • Retrospective Studies

Substances

  • GPC3 protein, human
  • Glypicans