Expression of LC3-II protein and p53 protein in ovarian cancer tissue and their relationships with tumor development

Objective To investigate the expressions of microtubule light chain I protein 3-Ⅱ type (LC3-Ⅱ) protein and p53 protein in ovarian cancer tissues and their relationship with the development of ovarian cancer. Methods Eighty-four pathological specimens of epithelial ovarian cancer patients collected by the Pathology Department of the Fifth People’s Hospital of Jiaozuo were selected as the ovarian cancer group. And 80 tissue specimens of benign ovarian cancer patients were selected as the benign group. Western-blot method and immunohistochemical staining were used to detect the expression of LC3-Ⅱ and p53 protein. Results The positive expression rates of LC3-Ⅱ and p53 protein in ovarian cancer group were 66.67% (56/84) and 61.90% (52/84), which were significantly higher than the 26.25%(21/80) and 18.75% (15/80) in the benign group (P<0.05). In ovarian cancer tissues with lymph node metastasis, the positive expression rate of LC3-Ⅱ was 77.08% (37/56), which was higher than that in ovarian cancer tissues without lymph node metastasis (52.78%, 19/28), P<0.05. The positive expression rate of p53 protein in lymph node metastasis and low differentiation ovarian cancer was 75.00% (36/52) and 80.65% (25/52), respectively, which were higher than the 44.44% (16/52) and 50.94% (27/52) in high middle differentiation ovarian cancer without metastasis (P<0.05). Conclusions The up-regulation of LC3-Ⅱ and p53 protein in ovarian cancer tissues may be related to the occurrence and exacerbation of ovarian cancer. Key words: Ovarian neoplasms; Microtubule light chain I protein 3-Ⅱ type protein; p53 protein