Redox protein expression predicts progression-free and overall survival in ovarian cancer patients treated with platinum-based chemotherapy

Ovarian cancer is primarily treated with platinum-based chemotherapy, with ROS generation implicated in cytotoxicity. We examined redox protein expression in ovarian tumors, focusing on the thioredoxin system, to determine the role it might play in mediating response to therapy. Nuclear and cytoplasmic expression of thioredoxin, thioredoxin reductase, thioredoxin-interacting protein, metallothionein, and glutathione S-transferase Pi was assessed, using standard immunohistochemical techniques, on a tissue microarray of 154 primary ovarian carcinomas obtained from patients subsequently treated with adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy. Low cytoplasmic expression of thioredoxin (p = 0.032) and negative nuclear expression of metallothionein (p = 0.04) significantly correlated with better progression-free survival. When nuclear and cytoplasmic expression patterns were combined those patients with tumors with low cytoplasmic but high nuclear expression of thioredoxin exhibited better progression-free (p = 0.003) and overall survival (p = 0.004). This combination was, using multivariate analysis, an independent predictive factor for overall survival (p = 0.034). Improved progression-free survival was also seen with negative expression of metallothionein, cytoplasmic and nuclear (p = 0.038), and was independent of other clinical parameters (p = 0.048). Such results support the suitability of using redox protein expression to predict response and, potentially, to alter treatment options accordingly.