EphA8 is a prognostic marker for epithelial ovarian cancer

// Xiaoqin Liu 1, * , Yunzhao Xu 2, * , Qin Jin 3 , Wei Wang 3 , Shu Zhang 3 , Xudong Wang 4 , Yuquan Zhang 2 , Xujuan Xu 1 , Jianfei Huang 3 1 Department of Nursing, Nantong University, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu, China 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nantong University Affiliated Hospital, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu, China 3 Department of Pathology, Nantong University Affiliated Hospital, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu, China 4 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Nantong University Affiliated Hospital, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu, China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Xujuan Xu, e-mail: Xxj_1124@126.com Jianfei Huang, e-mail: ntyydoctor@126.com Keywords: EphA8, human epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), immunohistochemistry, qRT-PCR, prognosis Received: January 05, 2016 Accepted: February 15, 2016 Published: March 09, 2016 ABSTRACT EphA8 is one of the Eph receptors in the Eph/ephrin receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) subfamily. During tumorigenesis, EphA8 is involved in angiogenesis, cell adhesion and migration. In this study, we determined the mRNA and protein expression levels of EphA8 in cancerous and normal ovarian tissue samples by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) ( N = 60) and tissue microarray immunohistochemistry analysis (TMA-IHC) ( N = 223) respectively. EphA8 protein levels in cancer tissues were correlated with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients’ clinical characteristics and overall survival. Both EphA8 mRNA and protein levels were significantly higher in EOC tissues than in normal or benign ovarian tissues (all P < 0.05). High EphA8 protein level was associated older age at diagnosis, higher FIGO stage, positive lymph nodes, presence of metastasis, positive ascitic fluid, and higher serum CA-125 level. High EphA8 protein level is an independent prognostic marker in EOC. We conclude that EphA8 acts as an oncogene in EOC development and progression. Detection of EphA8 expression could be a useful prognosis marker and targeting EphA8 represents a novel strategy for EOC treatment.