Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1A1 Expression in Ovarian Epithelial Tumors

Aims Supporting evidences have been proposed that tumor initiating cells or cancer stem cells (CSCs) are principally sharing into tumor progress and relapse. Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1), a stem cell marker, has currently been implicated in multiple human malignancies including ovarian carcinomas. The aims of this study were to assess immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of ALDH1A1 in ovarian epithelial tumors, tracking stem cells during ovarian cancer development and its relation with the clinicopathological features of such tumors. Materials and Methods In this experimental study, 42 paraffin blocks of ovarian tumor cases were retrieved retrospectively from the department of pathology, faculty of medicine, Cairo University during January 2013 to January 2015. Ovarian tumor paraffin blocks included 14 benign cystadenomas 14 border line tumors and 14 carcinomas. IHC reactions were carried out by using ALDH1A1 monoclonal antibody. Cases were classified into two groups of low and high ALDH1A1 expression. The chi-squared test (χ2) was used and data analyzes by SPSS 22 software. Findings High ALDH1A1 expression was reported in 50.0% of benign cystadenomas, 50.0% of borderline tumors and 85.7% of ovarian carcinomas with significant positive association with ovarian carcinomas (p=0.025). In ovarian carcinomas, positive relationship was detected between high ALDHA1 expression and advancing tumor grades but it didn’t reach statistical significance (p=0.054), no any significant relations were detected between ALDH1A1 immunohistochemical expression and age of patients, the documented size, laterality, histologic types and FIGO stage in all tumors (p>0.05). Conclusion ALDH1A1 is a potential biomarker for detecting CSCs in ovarian carcinomas and a prognostic marker. Also, it may act as a target for future therapy.

Keywords:

ALDH1A1 , Ovarian Neoplasms , Carcinoma