title: Glypican-3 expression in clear cell adenocarcinoma of the ovary.
abstract: Glypican-3 is a heparan sulfate proteoglycan that is overexpressed in various neoplasms such as hepatocellular carcinoma, malignant melanoma, and testicular yolk sac tumor. Glypican-3 is currently regarded as a tumor marker and potential target for immunotherapy. To clarify the significance of glypican-3 expression in ovarian clear cell adenocarcinoma, we evaluated glypican-3 expression by immunohistochemistry in nonneoplastic and neoplastic ovaries, and other Müllerian duct derivatives including endometrium in different menstrual phases. Among the benign lesions examined, glypican-3 expression was identified exclusively in the endometrial epithelium in the gestational period. A total of 213 cases of ovarian adenocarcinoma, including 94 clear cell adenocarcinomas, were studied. Glypican-3 expression was observed in 44% of clear cell adenocarcinomas, whereas it was rarely observed in other histological subtypes: mucinous (4%), endometrioid (5%), and serous (11%; P<0.0001). All six ovarian yolk sac tumors showed diffuse immunoreactivity for glypican-3. In cases of clear cell adenocarcinoma, no correlations were found between glypican-3 expression and clinicopathological factors, such as tumor stage, lymph node metastasis, peritoneal dissemination, and death rate. However, glypican-3 expression was significantly associated with poor overall survival in stage III/IV clear cell adenocarcinoma cases. Our results suggest that overexpression of glypican-3 may be related to the development and aggressive behavior of ovarian clear cell adenocarcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Daichi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ota
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takazawa
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aburatani
authors.forename: Shunsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Tetsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taketani
authors.forename: Tatsuhiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kodama
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukayama