Expression of lymphangiogenesis marker neuropilin-1 in different types of ovarian cancer

Background: Neuropilin (NRP) may be used as a marker of lymphangiogenesis in malignant tumors. Significant correlations of the expression of NRP with tumor progression and overall survival prognosis were found in several cancer types. However, its potential role in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) has not been clarified. AIMS: The aim of the work was to study a possible correlation of neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) expression with selected clinical and histological features of EOC. Material and Methods: The study included 53 women (aged 23 to 81, mean 56.6+/-4.4yrs), 38 of which were postmenopausal (71.7%). Immunohistochemical staining with a specific anti-NRP-1 antibody was performed in representative tumor tissue samples of patients with EOC. Both, percentage of stained lymphatic cells and intensity of staining were assessed under 200x magnification. The results were correlated with the menopausal status, FIGO stage, histological type and histological grade of EOC. Results: Histological examination revealed that there were 27 cases of serous cancers (50%), 15 cases of mucinous cancer (28.3%) and 11 endometrioid cancers (20.7%). In 41.5% (n=22) cases of EOC no NRP-1 staining was found, a weak (+) or strong (++) staining were found in 13 (24.5%) and 18 tumors, respectively. There were no significant differences between neuropilin-1 expression and both menopausal status of women and histological type of EOC. Except for stage II, clinical EOC patients’ FIGO stage was not correlated with the lack of expression (38.8% for stage I, 71.4% for stage II and 35.7% for stage III). Conclusion: We believe that neuropilin-1 expression is probably not related to clinical and histological features of epithelial ovarian cancer