Influence of chemotherapy on the expression of p53, HER-2/neu and proliferation markers in ovarian cancer

Objective: Mutated p53 and HER-2/neu play a role in the etiology of ovarian cancer. It is important to know whether the expression of these proteins i s affected by platinum-containing chemotherapy. Study design: Together with the cell proliferation markers Ki-67 and PCNA, the expression of p53 and H ER-2/neu was assessed before and after chemotherapy. Paraffin-embedded tumo r sections from 20 patients with ovarian cancer and four patients with beni gn disorders of the ovaries (controls) were analyzed. The expression of p53 was determined by the antibodies DO-1 and BP53-12. In addition to HER-2/ne u and PCNA specific antibodies, MIB-1 was used to detect Ki-67. Results: Th e expression of all markers was higher in ovarian cancer patients than in n on-malignant controls. MIB-1 showed a significant increase of expression af ter chemotherapy (P = 0.002). HER-2/neu, p53 and PCNA also showed a clear i ncrease after treatment, but this was not statistically significant. HER-2/ neu is of prognostic relevance with respect to the response to chemotherapy (P = 0.005) and survival (P = 0.0002). Conclusion: The different markers t ested all increase after chemotherapy, but the differences are not statisti cally significant. Low HER-2/neu expression correlates with good outcome at second look. Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserve d.