The clinicopathological characteristics of 'triple-negative' epithelial ovarian cancer.
BACKGROUND
'Triple-negative' is traditionally used to define a specific subtype of breast cancer with negative oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-type 2 (HER2) expressions. ER/PR and HER2 testing is also widely used in the informative classification of ovarian cancer.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether a 'triple-negative' subtype also exists in ovarian cancer.


METHODS
ER, PR and HER2 expressions in 116 Chinese women with primary epithelial ovarian cancer were reviewed. Triple-negative epithelial ovarian cancer (TNEOC) was defined based on negative ER, PR and HER2 expression. The clinicopathological characteristics and Ki-67, P53 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression in the TNEOC and non-TNEOC group were compared.


RESULTS
15.5% of cases (18/116) were identified as TNEOC among 116 ovarian carcinomas. Histological grade 3 was found in a higher percentage of the TNEOC than of the non-TNEOC group (94.4% vs 62.2%). TNEOC also correlated with a high level of Ki-67 and p53 expression. EGFR overexpression and other clinicopathological characteristics were not significantly associated with TNEOC subtype. TNEOC was associated with a shorter progression free survival and overall survival in univariate and multivariate analyses.


CONCLUSIONS
A novel subtype of ovarian carcinoma, which is negative for ER, PR and HER2 expression, has been identified; this specific ovarian subtype tends to have aggressive characteristics and a poor prognosis, which is similar to triple-negative breast cancer in most respects. TNEOC should be considered in future investigations of informative classification of ovarian cancer.
Liu
Naifu
N
Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Jinan 250117, Shandong, PR China.
Wang
Xingwu
X
Sheng
Xiugui
X
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism; D016019:Survival Analysis
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human