Relationship of expression of apoptosis inhibitor gene Livin and cancer surppresser gene PTEN in epithelial ovarian carcinoma

Objective: To study the expression and pathological characteristics of Livin and PTEN proteins in epithelial ovarian carcinoma as well as their inter-relationship. Methods: The Expression of Livin and PTEN in 60 samples of ovarian epithelial carcinoma,20 samples of benign ovarian epithelial tumor and 20 normal ovarian tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. Results: The Livin protein expression (80.0%) in epithelial ovarian carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that of benign ovarian epithelial tumors (10.0%) and normal ovarian tissues (5.0%) (P<0.01). The expression of Livin had a positive correlation with the tumor grade,but no statistical correlation with the tumor stage or lymph node metastasis. The positive expression of PTEN protein in epithelial ovarian carcinoma (26.7%) was significantly lower than that in benign ovarian epithelial tumors (95.0%) and normal ovarian tissues (100.0) (P<0.01). The expression of PTEN was negatively related to the tumor stage,tumor grade and lymph node metastasis (P<0.01); the expression of Livin was negatively correlated with the expression of PTEN (P<0.01). Conclusions: Up-regulated expression of Livin and down-regulated expression of PTEN may play an important role in the process of carcinogenesis and differentiation of epithelial ovarian carcinoma. Livin may be useful targets for treatment of ovarian carcinoma.