Circulating Haptoglobin Is an Independent Prognostic Factor in the Sera of Patients with Epithelial Ovarian Cancer *

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate the prognostic significance of haptoglobin levels in the overall survival of patients presenting with various stages of epithelial ovarian cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We employed an in-house sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method to determine the concentrations of preoperative haptoglobin and C-reactive protein (CRP) in sera samples obtained from 66 malignant tumors, 60 benign tumors, and 10 normal healthy women. RESULTS: Levels of serum haptoglobin significantly correlated with tumor type (P < .001) and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage (P < .05). A significant correlation was observed between clinical stage and patient survival (r = 5.99, P = .026). Our data also indicated that elevated serum haptoglobin levels were associated with poor outcome for overall survival using both univariate and multivariate analyses (P = .048 and P = .036 respectively). Using Pearson's correlation, we have noted that serum CRP concentrations significantly correlated with haptoglobin levels (r2 = 0.22, P < .001). Immunohistochemical findings and Western blot analyses were compatible with sera levels of haptoglobin in which a higher intensity of staining occurred in late-stage epithelial ovarian cancers. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence that preoperative serum levels of haptoglobin could serve as an independent prognostic factor in patients presenting with epithelial ovarian cancer.