Abstract 3650: Serous ovarian carcinoma patients with high alpha-folate receptor had poorer outcome by reducing cytotoxic chemo-response through anti-apoptotic pathway

Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL The alpha-folate receptor (α-FR) is highly expressed in various non-mucinous tumors of epithelial origin, including ovarian carcinoma. Semi-quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reactions for α-FR expression were performed in 91 specimens of serous ovarian carcinomas. Furthermore, in vitro apoptotic experiments were tested in the original OVCAR-3 tumor cells and various OVCAR-3 α-FR-transfectants. In our study, the serous ovarian cancer patients with advanced stages (stage I: 0.451, stage II: 0.415, stage III: 0.652, stage IV: 0.768, p=0.004) had a significantly higher α-FR expression compared to those with early stages. Patients with an increased α-FR expression level had poorer responses to chemotherapy (odds ratio (OR): 8.97 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.40-57.36), p=0.021). An increased α-FR expression level was an independently poor prognostic factor for DFI (Hazard ratio (HR): 2.45 (95% CI: 1.16-5.18), p=0.02) and had a negative impact on OS of these serous ovarian cancer patients (HR: 3.6 (95% CI: 0.93-13.29), p =0.03) by multivariate analyses. α-FR inhibited cytotoxic drug-induced apoptosis in our in vitro apoptotic assays. α-FR could induce chemo-resistance via regulating the expression of apoptosis-related molecules, Bcl-2 and Bax. Therefore, α-FR can be a potential biomarker for the prediction of chemotherapeutic responses and clinical prognosis. It also could be the target of treating ovarian cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3650. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-3650