Expression of Lewis y antigen and integrin αv, β3 in ovarian cancer and their relationship with chemotherapeutic drug resistance

OBJECTIVE This study investigates the expression of Lewis y antigen, integrin αv, β3 in epithelial ovarian cancer tissues. We further evaluate the relationship between their expression and chemotherapy resistance of ovarian cancer and its possible clinical significance. METHODS Tissues of 92 patients with ovarian cancer meeting the inclusion criteria with complete follow-up data were enrolled and divided into chemotherapy resistant group and sensitive group. The expression and relationship of Lewis y antigen and integrin αv, β3 are assessed in paraffin sections using immunohistochemistry and double-labeling immunofluorescence method. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between age, clinical stage, differentiation, histologic subtype, Lewis y antigen and integrin αv, β3 expression in ovarian cancer patients. RESULTS The expression rates of Lewis y antigen and integrin αv in the resistant group, significantly higher than the rates found in the sensitive group (p <0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that the expression of Lewis y antigen, integrin αv and ovarian cancer's clinical stage were independent, drug resistance-related risk factors. The expression levels of Lewis y antigen and integrin αv, β3 were positively correlated with each other. CONCLUSIONS A close correlation between Lewis y antigen, integrin αv, β3 and ovarian cancer was observed. Lewis y antigen can influence the biological behavior of a tumor cell as an important composition of integrin αv, β3 by some signal pathway. And the expression of Lewis y antigen, integrin αv and ovarian cancer's clinical stage are both independent, drug resistance-related risk factors.