Correlation of FOXC1 protein with clinicopathological features in serous ovarian tumors

Transcriptional factor FOXC1 has been demonstrated to play a key role in embryogenesis in animal studies and may participate in tumorigenesis. However, the specific function of this gene in ovarian tumors has not been fully determined. In this study, potential correlations between FOXC1 expression and clinicopathological features of serous ovarian tumors were investigated. FOXC1 expression was analyzed in SKOV-3 and HO-8910 cell lines and serous ovarian tumor tissues. A significant correlation was observed between FOXC1 protein expression and pathological subtype as well as FIGO stage (P<0.05) in serous ovarian tumors in our retrospective study. No significant association was revealed between FOXC1 protein expression and the clinicopathological factors of age, histological grade and volume of ascites (P>0.05). The results suggest that high expression of FOXC1 protein may serve as a marker for benign serous ovarian tumors and a suggest a trend towards good prognosis.