It has been suggested that expression of TGFß1 and its receptors [TGFß receptor type I (TßRI) and TGFß receptor type II (TßRII)] may play a key role in the proliferation and progression of
epithelial ovarian cancer. We investigated the
biological significance of TGFß1 and its receptors, as well as their association with the
tumor response to
paclitaxel (PTX) and
carboplatin (
CBDCA). We studied 24 patients with
ovarian cancer, primary peritoneal
cancer, or
fallopian tube cancer who had undergone surgery and
chemotherapy with PTX and
CBDCA. Tissues from the primary
tumor were examined and the expression of TGFß1, TßRI, and TßRII
mRNA was assessed by the
RNase protection assay. It was found that TGFß1
mRNA expression was significantly lower in the
tumors of patients who had optimal surgery than in the
tumors of patients with suboptimal surgery. TGFß1
mRNA expression was also significantly lower in
tumors with high sensitivity to PTX and
CBDCA than in those with low sensitivity. TßRI
mRNA expression was not associated with any clinicopathological factors. Expression of TßRII
mRNA was significantly higher in
clear cell adenocarcinoma and
mucinous adenocarcinoma, while it was lower in serous
adenocarcinoma and
endometrioid adenocarcinoma. Moreover, it tended to be higher in early-stage
tumors compared with advanced
tumors. Among TGFß1, TßRI, and TßRII, expression of TGFß1
mRNA was most strongly associated with progression-free survival. When the prognosis of the patients with advanced
cancer was compared on the basis of TGFß1
mRNA expression, those whose
tumors showed low expression tended to have a better prognosis than those whose
tumors showed high expression. It is suggested that TGFß1
mRNA expression is an
indicator of
tumor sensitivity to standard
therapy with PTX and
CBDCA, that it can identify biologically aggressive and highly malignant
tumors and that it can predict the prognosis of patients with
ovarian cancer.