Interferon-gamma expression is an independent prognostic factor in ovarian cancer.
BACKGROUND
Epithelial ovarian cancer prognosis is improved by the presence of intratumoral CD3 + T cells, which are known to produce interferon-gamma. We therefore speculated that interferon-gamma expression in ovarian cancer-infiltrating T-lymphocytes might cause better prognosis.


METHODS
Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was performed to measure the expression of interferon-gamma and other related genes in normal ovaries (n = 19) and in ovarian cancer specimens (n = 99). Median follow-up of patients was 5.8 years.


RESULTS
Interferon-gamma and CD-3 expression did not significantly differ in normal and malignant tissue. Patients with high levels of interferon-gamma expression had significantly longer progression-free and overall survival. Median time to progression was 10 and 29 months for patients with low and high interferon-gamma expression, respectively ( P = .039). Corresponding survival times were 29 and 44 months ( P < .032). Application of multivariate Cox regression analysis showed interferon-gamma expression to be an independent prognostic factor for progression-free and overall survival.


CONCLUSIONS
Elevated interferon-gamma expression correlates with improved clinical outcome in patients with ovarian cancer.
Marth
Christian
C
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria. christian.marth@uibk.ac.at
Fiegl
Heidi
H
Zeimet
Alain G
AG
Müller-Holzner
Elisabeth
E
Deibl
Martina
M
Doppler
Wolfgang
W
Daxenbichler
Günter
G
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D017931:DNA Primers; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism*; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality; D010053:Ovary / Q000378:metabolism; D011379:Prognosis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016019:Survival Analysis
D017931:DNA Primers; D007371:Interferon-gamma