Differential expression of mex-3 RNA binding family member A in human epithelial ovarian cancer.
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 and public 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 mex-3 RNA binding family member A, MEX3A, as among the genes whose expression was most different in epithelial ovarian cancer as compared to the normal fallopian tube. MEX3A expression was significantly higher in high-grade serous ovarian tumors relative to normal fallopian tube. MEX3A expression correlated with overall survival in patients with ovarian cancer. These data indicate that expression of MEX3A is perturbed in epithelial ovarian cancers broadly and in ovarian cancers of the HGSC subtype. MEX3A may be relevant to pathways underlying ovarian cancer initiation (transformation) or progression.