Expression and Subcellular Localization of Maspin in Human Ovarian Epithelial Neoplasms: Correlation with Clinicopathologic Features

Background and Purpose: Maspin is an inhibitor of serine proteinases with tumor suppressor activity that is down-regulated in breast and prostate cancer, but over-expressed in pancreatic carcinoma. However, there were very few published data regarding the role of maspin in ovarian carcinoma. The aim of the present study was to evaluate maspin expression in ovarian epithelial neoplasms and correlate its expression with some clinicopathologic parameters. Material and Methods: Seventy eight paraffin em-bedded ovarian specimens from patients with ovarian epithelial neoplasms comprised the material of this study. They included 18 benign, 14 low malignant potential (LMP) and 46 malignant epithelial ovarian neoplasms, i