Abstract
Background: Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most common gynecological cancer in women. Resistin, an inflammatory adipocytokine, is associated with obesity, insulin resistance, and various cancer types. Materials and Methods: We investigated resistin expression in tissues and its association with the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with EOC. The SKOV3 and CAOV3 cell lines were treated with exogenous resistin and rapamycin (resistin inhibitor), and the expression of mTOR in SKOV3 and CAOV3 cells was measured. Cell proliferation was measured using the CCK-8 assay. Western blotting analysis was performed to examine the phosphorylation of P70S6K and mTOR. Wound healing and Transwell analyses were conducted to examine the effect of resistin on the migration of SKOV3 and CAOV3 cells. Results: High resistin expression was positively correlated with the pathological grade (P = 0.017) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.045). However, resistin expression was not correlated with age, FIGO stage, or residual tumor after initial laparotomy (P > 0.05). Cox multivariate analysis showed that resistin expression was an independent factor for determining disease-free survival, whereas lymph node metastasis, resistin expression, and age (≥55 years) were independent factors affecting overall survival. Exogenous resistin induced ovarian cancer cell proliferation, whereas rapamycin had the opposite effect. Resistin promoted the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells via the mTOR signaling pathway and was associated with phosphorylating P70S6K. Furthermore, resistin promoted the migration of ovarian cancer cells. Conclusions: Resistin may promote the occurrence of ovarian cancer and is related to the prognosis of patients. This protein may also affect the proliferation of EOC cells through the mTOR signaling pathway. Therefore, resistin shows potential as a molecular therapeutic target in ovarian cancer.