title: Expression of p-Akt in ovarian serous carcinoma and its association with proliferation and apoptosis.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to determine the expression of p-Akt in ovarian serous carcinoma (OSC) and its association with proliferation and apoptosis. Paraffin-embedded tissues of patients aged between 35 and 64 years old without history of radiotherapy, chemotherapy and hormone therapy prior to surgery were collected. In total, samples included 12 ovarian serous cystadenomas (OSAs), 18 ovarian serous borderline tumors (OS-BTs) and 46 OSCs. Of the 46 OSC samples, 16 were well-differentiated, 20 were moderately differentiated and 10 were poorly differentiated, while 22 developed lymphatic metastases and 24 were metastasis-free. An additional 10 paraffin-embedded normal ovarian tissues (NOTs) were used as controls. Streptavidin-peroxidase immunohistochemistry assays were used to investigate the expression of p-Akt and cyclin D1 in the collected samples. Compared with NOT, p-Akt expression in the OS-BT and OSC groups, as well as cyclin D1 expression in the OSA and OSC groups, was significantly elevated (P<0.05). Compared with the OSA group, p-Akt expression in the OSC group was significantly elevated (P<0.01) and reversely associated with tumor differentiation (P<0.01), whereas cyclin D1 expression showed no correlation with tumor differentiation (P>0.05). The expression of p-Akt, caspase-3 and cyclin D1 was positively associated with lymphatic metastasis (r=0.334; P=0.023). The expression of p-Akt gradually increased with carcinoma development and was associated with differentiation and metastasis of OSC, revealing that the activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway is involved in the development of OSC. Furthermore, the expression of cyclin D1 gradually increased in the NOT, OSA, OS-BT and OSC groups and was associated with tumor metastasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, The First Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Tieying
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The Sixth Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Liwen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The Sixth Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhongfu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mo
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The Sixth Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Limei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, The First Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, The First Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Runling
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, The First Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Kunfeng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, The First Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ruyu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, The First Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Pengyu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, The First Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, The First Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qingfang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jiao
keywords: apoptosis; cyclin D1; ovarian serous carcinoma; phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/protein kinase B; proliferation