There is evidence to suggest that follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) can facilitate the neovascularization of ovarian cancers by increasing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in cancer cells, although the underlying molecular mechanism of this process is not well known. Therefore, we investigated the effect of FSH on VEGF expression in the ovarian cancer cell lines SKOV-3 and ES-2. Treatment with FSH significantly increased VEGF expression in a dose-and time-dependent manner. In addition, FSH treatment enhanced the expression of survivin and hypoxiainducible factor-1 (HIF-1α). Knockdown of survivin or HIF-1α suppressed VEGF expression, but only knockdown of survivin inhibited FSH-stimulated VEGF expression. Pretreatment with LY294002, a phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT inhibitor, neutralized the enhanced expression of survivin induced by FSH, but treatment with U0126, a mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase inhibitor, had no such effect. We further showed that ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma samples had much higher incidence of positive AKT and phosphorylated AKT (pAKT) protein staining than did benign ovarian cystadenoma samples (p < 0.01). The 5-year survival rate was only about 15% in patients with ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma who had AKT and pAKT expression, whereas it was about 80% in those who did not have AKT or pAKT expression. Taken together, these results indicate that FSH increases the expression of VEGF by upregulating the expression of survivin, which is activated by the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Understanding the role of the PI3K/AKT pathway in FSH-stimulated expression of survivin and VEGF will be beneficial for evaluating the prognosis for patients with ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma and for pursuing effective treatment against this disease.

To establish an effective hormone receptor-based molecular classification of high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC), we retrospectively examined 875 consecutive HGSC patients who underwent primary surgery at our hospital and constructed tissue microarrays from these specimens. The expression levels of the hormone receptors were as follows: ER 64.4%, PR 12.6%, AR 35.6%, FSHR 54.5%, LHR 34.8%, and GnRHR 88.3%. Based on clustering of their expression patterns, we classified patients into five subgroups with distinctive clinical features (PR+, PR − ER + AR+, PR − ER + AR−, PR − ER − AR+, and PR − ER − AR−). Patients in the PR + group were younger compared to those in the other groups (p < 0.001). More patients were of advanced stage in the PR − ER + AR− group than the other groups (p = 0.020). A greater proportion of patients were sensitive to platinum-based chemotherapy in the PR − ER − AR + group compared with the other groups (p = 0.034). A trend of increasing risk of death was observed among these subgroups (p < 0.001). In the multivariate analysis, patients also had orderly increased hazard ratios for death in the PR + (HR = 2.256, 95% CI, 0.983–5.175), PR − ER + AR + (HR = 2.188, 95% CI, 1.004–4.796), PR − ER − AR− (HR = 2.316, 95% CI, 1.097–5.082) and PR − ER + AR− (HR = 2.928, 95% CI, 1.366–6.276) subgroups compared to the PR − ER − AR+ subgroup. Our classification could help predict patient clinical outcomes, guide individual treatments and stratify patients in future clinical trials.

BackgroundThe aim of our study was to investigate whether an inflammation-based prognostic score, the prognostic nutritional index (PNI), was associated with clinical characteristics and prognosis in patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC).MethodsWe retrospectively investigated 875 patients who underwent primary staging or debulking surgery for HGSC between April 2005 and June 2013 at our institution. None of these patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Preoperative PNI was calculated as serum albumin (g/L) + 0.005 × lymphocyte count (per mm3). The optimal PNI cutoff value for overall survival (OS) was identified using the online tool “Cutoff Finder”. Clinical characteristics and PNI were compared with chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests, as appropriate. The impact of PNI on OS was analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model.ResultsThe median (range) PNI was 46.2 (29.2–67.7). The 45.45 cutoff value discriminated patients into the high-PNI and low-PNI groups. A low preoperative PNI was associated with an advanced FIGO stage, increased CA125 level, more extensive ascites, residual disease and platinum resistance. For univariate analyses, a high PNI was associated with increased OS (p < 0.001). In multivariate analyses, the PNI remained an independent predictor of OS as a continuous variable (p = 0.021) but not as dichotomized groups (p = 0.346).ConclusionOur study demonstrated that the PNI could be a predictive and prognostic parameter for HGSC.

ObjectiveWe aimed to demonstrate the clinical and prognostic significance of the preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC).MethodsWe retrospectively investigated 875 patients who underwent primary staging or debulking surgery for HGSC between April 2005 and June 2013 at our institution. None of these patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. NLR was defined as the absolute neutrophil count divided by the absolute lymphocyte count. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed with the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank tests for univariate analyses. For multivariate analyses, Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the effects of the prognostic factors, which were expressed as hazard ratios (HRs).ResultsThe NLRs ranged from 0.30 to 24.0. The median value was 3.24 and used as the cutoff value to discriminate between the high-NLR (≥3.24) and low-NLR (<3.24) groups. A high preoperative NLR level was associated with an advanced FIGO stage, increased CA125 level, more extensive ascites, worse cytoreduction outcome and chemoresistance. For univariate analyses, a high NLR was associated with reduced PFS (p<0.001) and OS (p<0.001). In multivariate analyses, a high NLR was still an independent predictor of PFS (p = 0.011), but not OS (p = 0.148).ConclusionOur study demonstrated that NLR could reflect tumor burden and clinical outcomes to a certain extent and should be regarded as a predictive and prognostic parameter for HGSC.

ObjectivesAlthough patients with grade I and II endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinoma (EEA) are considered with good prognosis, among them 15%–25% died in 5 years. It is still unknown whether integrating estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) into clinical risk stratification can help select high-risk patients with grade I–II EEA. This study was to investigate the prognostic value of ER and PR double negativity (ER/PR loss) in grade I–II EEA, and the association between ER/PR loss and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) classification.MethodsER and PR were assessed by immunohistochemistry on hysterectomy specimens of 903 patients with grade I–II EEA. ER and PR negativity were determined when <1% tumor nuclei were stained. Gene expression data were obtained from the TCGA research network.ResultsCompared with ER or PR positive patients (n=868), patients with ER/PR loss (n=35) had deeper myometrial infiltration (p=0.012), severer FIGO stage (p=0.004), and higher rate of pelvic lymph node metastasis (p=0.020). In univariate analysis, ER/PR loss correlated with a shorter progression-free survival (PFS; hazard ratio [HR]=5.25; 95% confidence interval [CI]=2.21–12.52) and overall survival (OS; HR=7.59; 95% CI=2.55–22.60). In multivariate analysis, ER/PR loss independently predicted poor PFS (HR=3.77; 95% CI=1.60–10.14) and OS (HR=5.56; 95% CI=1.37–22.55) for all patients, and poor PFS for patients in stage IA (n=695; HR=5.54; 95% CI=1.28–23.89) and stage II–IV (n=129; HR=5.77; 95% CI=1.57–21.27). No association was found between ER/PR loss and TCGA classification.ConclusionIntegrating ER/PR evaluation into clinical risk stratification may improve prognosis for grade I–II EEA patients.

OR = 3.67, 95% CI = 1.25-10.81, P = 0.018). We also found that the variant genotypes -238GA/AA was associated with a significantly decreased risk of cervical cancer (GA/AA vs. GG: OR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.41-0.74, P < 0.001). The results suggested that TNFA-308G/A and -238G/A may contribute to cervical cancer susceptibility.

6001 Background: In China, secondary cytoreductive surgery (SCR) has been standard of care in some high volume cancer centers for ovarian cancer (OC) and most pts prefer surgery over the past two decades. Although GOG213 showed no OS benefit, the debate on selected pts and the conflict with certain local clinical care is still open. Methods: Pts with 1st relapsed OC after 6m+ platinum-free interval (PFI) were eligible if predicted to be a potential R0 by iMODEL score combined with PET-CT image and were randomized to SCR followed by chemotherapy (surgery arm) vs 2nd line chemotherapy alone (no surgery arm). Co-primary endpoint is PFS and OS. The 2nd endpoint is accumulated treatment-free survival (TFSa), which was defined as the overall survival time minus the time of surgery and chemotherapy after randomization. We report analysis of PFS and interim analysis of TFSa. Results: 357 pts were randomized 2012-2019. 6.3% of 175 pts were operated in no surgery arm and cross-over rate was 36.9% in 2nd+ relapsed pts of no surgery arm. 97% and 96% of pts received a platinum-containing 2nd line therapy. Complete resection (R0) rate was 76.7% in overall and 61.1% in pts with iMODEL> 4.7. 60 d mortality rates were 0 % in both surgery and no surgery arm. Postoperative 30 d complication rate with ≥ grade 3 was 5.2%. The median follow-up was 36.0 m. Median PFS was 17.4 m and 11.9 m in surgery and no surgery arm, respectively (HR 0.58, 95% CI 0.45-0.74, p < 0.001). Median time to start of first subsequent therapy (TFST) was 18.1 m vs 13.6 m in favor of the surgery arm (HR 0.59, 95%CI 0.46-0.76). 1.1% and 10.1% of pts underwent Bevacizumab and PARPi maintenance in the 2nd line therapy. The OS and TFSa was immatured. The median TFSa was unreached and 39.5 m in R0 subgroup and no surgery arm, respectively (HR0.59, 95%CI 0.38-0.91). TFSa in surgery arm showed a better long-term survival than that in no surgery group (restricted mean survival time from 60 to 72m: 6.2m vs 4.2m). Conclusions: SCR in selected pts resulted in a dramatically significant extension of PFS. The interim analysis of TFSa indicate that SCR might contribute to long-term survival.

Endometrial damage is an important cause of female reproductive problems, manifested as menstrual abnormalities, infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, and other complications. These conditions are collectively termed “Asherman syndrome” (AS) and are typically associated with recurrent induced pregnancy terminations, repeated diagnostic curettage and intrauterine infections. Cancer treatment also has unexpected detrimental side effects on endometrial function in survivors independently of ovarian effects. Endometrial stem cells act in the regeneration of the endometrium and in repair through direct differentiation or paracrine effects. Nonendometrial adult stem cells, such as bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cells and umbilical cord‐derived mesenchymal stem cells, with autologous and allogenic applications, can also repair injured endometrial tissue in animal models of AS and in human studies. However, there remains a lack of research on the repair of the damaged endometrium after the reversal of tumors, especially endometrial cancers. Here, we review the biological mechanisms of endometrial regeneration, and research progress and challenges for adult stem cell therapy for damaged endometrium, and discuss the potential applications of their use for endometrial repair after cancer remission, especially in endometrial cancers. Successful application of such cells will improve reproductive parameters in patients with AS or cancer. Significance: The endometrium is the fertile ground for embryos, but damage to the endometrium will greatly impair female fertility. Adult stem cells combined with tissue engineering scaffold materials or not have made great progress in repairing the injured endometrium due to benign lesions. However, due to the lack of research on the repair of the damaged endometrium caused by malignant tumors or tumor therapies, the safety and effectiveness of such stem cell‐based therapies need to be further explored. This review focuses on the molecular insights and clinical application potential of adult stem cells in endometrial regeneration and discusses the possible challenges or difficulties that need to be overcome in stem cell‐based therapies for tumor survivors. The development of adult stem cell‐related new programs will help repair damaged endometrium safely and effectively and meet fertility needs in tumor survivors.