title: Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) expression in ovarian carcinomas and its clinicopathological associations.
abstract: Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) is known as a carrier protein. It is classically thought to be mainly synthesized in the liver and then secreted into the circulating system, where it binds to sex steroids with a high affinity and modulates the bio-availability of the hormones. Other organs known to produce SHBG include brain, uterus, testis, prostate, breast and ovary, and the local expressed SHBG may play an important role in tumor development. However, SHBG expression status and its clinicopathological significance in ovarian cancer cells are not reported yet. In our present study, we examined and found the variable SHBG expression in four ovarian cancer cell lines (OV-90, OVCAR-3, SKOV-3 and ES-2) by immunocytochemistry and Western blotting. We then extended our study to 248 ovarian carcinoma samples, which were collected at The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital with complete clinical information, and discovered that SHBG was variably expressed in these ovarian carcinomas. Higher level of SHBG expression was significantly associated with more aggressive histological subtype (p = 0.022), higher FIGO stage (p = 0.018) and higher histological grade (grade of differentiation, p = 0.020), although association between SHBG expression and OS/PFS was not observed. Our results demonstrate that ovarian cancer cells produce SHBG and higher SHBG expression in ovarian carcinoma is associated with unfavorable clinicopathological features.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway ; Departments of Pathology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Ruixia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway ; Departments of Pathology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Holm
authors.affiliation: Departments of Gynecology, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway ; Departments of Gynecology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Claes G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Trope
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway ; Departments of Pathology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Jahn M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Nesland
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway ; Departments of Pathology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Zhenhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Suo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin