PDK1 is Expressed in Ovarian Serous Carcinoma and Correlates with Improved Survival in High-grade Tumors.
OBJECTIVE
3-Phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 (PDK1) mediates the cellular effects of various growth factors. Increased PDK1 expression is present in various cancers, suggesting that PDK1 may be a critical oncogene in cancer progression. However, only limited data exist on PDK1 expression in ovarian serous cancer.


METHODS
We used tissue microarrays to analyze PDK1 expression in 253 primary ovarian serous carcinoma samples.


RESULTS
A statistically significant negative correlation between PDK1 expression and tumor grade was found. In the high-grade group of ovarian serous carcinomas (n=189), there was a statistically significant difference in overall survival between cases with positive and negative PDK1 expression (p=0.035); positive cases showed longer overall survival. Multivariate analysis confirmed that slight PDK1 expression was an independent indicator for prolonged overall survival (HR=0.51, 95% CI=0.28-0.92, p=0.025).


CONCLUSIONS
PDK1 appears to be a prognostic marker and a possible therapeutic target in ovarian serous carcinoma.
Institute of Pathology, Charité, University Hospital Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Philipp
P
Lohneis
Institute of Pathology, Charité, University Hospital Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Silvia
S
Darb-Esfahani
Institute of Pathology, Charité, University Hospital Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Manfred
M
Dietel
Department of Gynaecology, Charité, University Hospital Berlin, and Tumorbank Ovarian Cancer, TOC, Berlin, Germany.
Ioana
I
Braicu
Department of Gynaecology, Charité, University Hospital Berlin, and Tumorbank Ovarian Cancer, TOC, Berlin, Germany.
Jalid
J
Sehouli
Institute of Pathology, Charité, University Hospital Berlin, Berlin, Germany ruza.arsenic@charite.de.
Ruza
R
Arsenic
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D018284:Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D000081382:Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Acetyl-Transferring Kinase; D015996:Survival Rate; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C000631429:PDK1 protein, human; D000081382:Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Acetyl-Transferring Kinase; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1; immunohistochemistry; intracellular signaling; serous carcinoma of the ovary