Association of HMGB1, BRCA1 and P62 expression in ovarian cancer and chemotherapy sensitivity

The expression of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1) and P62 in ovarian cancer was investigated to explore its association with chemotherapy sensitivity in ovarian cancer patients. Tumor tissues and para-carcinoma normal tissues of 60 ovarian cancer patients hospitalized in Department of Surgery in Dongying Hospital from June, 2012 to June, 2015 were collected. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the mRNA expression levels of HMGB1, BRCA1 and P62 in tumor and para-carcinoma normal tissues. Moreover, immunohistochemistry was used to detect the protein expression of HMGB1, BRCA1 and P62 in tumor tissues and para-carcinoma normal tissues. The cancer tissue specimens were divided into the chemotherapy resistance group and sensitivity group through the in vitro resin droplet experiment to analyze the association of the expression of HMGB1, BRCA1 and P62 in epithelial ovarian cancer with chemotherapy resistance of patients. The RT-qPCR results showed that the expression of HMGB1, BRCA1 and P62 in ovarian cancer tissues at the mRNA level was significantly higher than that in para-carcinoma normal tissues. Immunohistochemical results showed that the positive expression levels of HMGB1, BRCA1 and P62 in ovarian carcinoma tissue were 61.67% (37/60), 76.33% (47/60) and 71.67% (43/60), respectively, while the positive expression levels of HMGB1, BRCA1 and P62 in para-carcinoma normal tissues were 13.33% (8/60), 8.33% (5/60) and 11.67% (7/60), respectively, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). In vitro resin droplet experiment revealed that 38 out of 60 ovarian cancer patients were drug resistant and 22 patients were sensitive to the therapy. The analysis of the association with chemotherapy sensitivity revealed that the positive expression of HMGB1, BRCA1 and P62 was associated with the drug resistance of ovarian cancer patients. The positive expression of HMGB1, BRCA1 and P62 was associated with chemotherapy sensitivity of ovarian cancer patients. Therefore, HMGB1, BRCA1 and P62 may be molecular markers for the prediction of chemotherapy sensitivity of ovarian cancer patients.