Identification of Omentum-derived Molecular Determinants and Pathways Mediating the Omental Metastasis of Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

Background and objectives: To date, the omentum-derived determinants of ovarian cancer (OC) metastasis to the omentum have not been well elucidated. We aimed to identify the pathogenesis, potential biomarkers, and prognostic indicators underlying the omental metastasis of OC. Methods:The expression profile GSE120196 included datasets of omental tissues from four patients with benign gynecologic diseases and cancer-infiltrated omental tissues from ten patients with high-grade serous OC. Using this dataset, we performed an analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), gene ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome, and pathway networks. The most significant module based on protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was selected, and the genes in the module were identified as hub genes. Furthermore, survival analysis and translational level of hub genes were performed to verify the results.Results: A total of 301 upregulated DEGs and 128 downregulated DEGs were identified. Pathways in cancer, focal adhesion and Wnt signaling were found to play critical roles. Ten hub genes were identified from PPI network analysis. Expression levels of two key genes, COL1A1 and VCAN, were significantly associated with worse prognosis of patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Conclusions:Our findings suggest that pathways in cancer, focal adhesion, Wnt signaling, and expression levels of two key genes, COL1A1 and VCAN, may become novel targets for the diagnosis and therapy of ovarian cancer with omental metastasis.