The expressions of bHLH gene HES1 and HES5 in advanced ovarian serous adenocarcinomas and their prognostic significance: a retrospective clinical study

PURPOSE: Notch signaling was recently found to be associated with prognosis of some cancers. The aim of the study is to investigate significance of the expression of HES1/HES5 protein, downstream effectors of Notch, in prognosis of the patients with advanced ovarian epithelial cancers. METHODS: Formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded tissues and clinic-pathological parameters from 61 patients with FIGO stage IIIc–IV ovarian serous adenocarcinoma were collected, the expression of HES1 and HES5 protein were immunohistochemically detected, and the association of HES1 and HES5 expression with survival of the patients were analyzed. RESULTS: The expressions of both HES1 and HES5 in adenocarcinoma were significantly higher than those in adenoma and normal control (χ (2) = 32.915, P = 0.000 and χ (2) = 46.863, P = 0.000 respectively). Overall survival and disease-free period were longer in HES1 low-expression patients (median 43.0 and 22.0 months) than those in high-expression patients (median 24.0 and 14.5 months). Of those, Overall survival period of patients with HES1 low-expression was significantly longer than that of those with high-expression (χ (2) = 4.049, P = 0.044). Univariate analysis and multivariate Cox regression model did not show that HES1 or HES5 expression was a factor associated with survival of advanced ovarian serous adenocarcinoma patients. CONCLUSIONS: The expressions of bHLH gene HES1 and HES5 are increased in advanced ovarian serous adenocarcinomas, and HES1 high-expression probably is a potential poor prognostic factor for the patients.