Abstract
BACKGROUND: Growth-related oncogene- (GRO-) β is a member of the CXC chemokine family, which may mediate various functions, such as attracting neutrophils to sites of inflammation, regulating angiogenesis, and participating in tumorigenesis and progression. However, the expression of GRO-β in ovarian cancer and its relationship to the clinical characteristics of this disease remain poorly understood. METHODS: In this study, immunohistochemical analysis using tissue microarray (TMA) was employed to evaluate the expression of GRO-β in ovarian cancer and to contrast expression with normal ovarian epithelial cells and oviduct epithelial cells. Next, we observed the correlation between GRO-β expression and clinicopathological features of ovarian cancer as well as patient outcome. RESULTS: High GRO-β cytoplasmic expression was observed in 55.15% of patients with ovarian cancer, which was related to lymph node or other metastases (P < 0.001), ascites (P = 0.027), and International Federation of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FIGO) stage (P = 0.032). Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox regression analysis revealed that high GRO-β expression (P = 0.002) and high CA19-9 level (P = 0.003) were independent prognostic indicators of poor outcome in ovarian cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, high GRO-β expression correlates with poor prognosis and contributes to ovarian cancer tumorigenesis and metastasis.