Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most lethal gynecologic cancer (1). We performed discovery of genes associated with epithelial ovarian cancer and of the high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC) subtype, using published microarray data (2, 3) to compare global gene expression profiles of normal ovary or fallopian tube with that of primary tumors from women diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer or HGSC. We identified the gene encoding cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor 3, CDKN3, as among the genes whose expression was most different in epithelial ovarian cancer as compared to the normal fallopian tube. CDKN3 expression was significantly higher in high-grade serous ovarian tumors relative to normal fallopian tube. CDKN3 expression correlated with overall survival in patients with ovarian cancer. These data indicate that expression of CDKN3 is perturbed in epithelial ovarian cancers broadly and in ovarian cancers of the HGSC subtype. CDKN3 may be relevant to pathways underlying ovarian cancer initiation (transformation) or progression.
Subcellular Localization and Protein Levels of Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27 Independently Predict for Survival in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer
