Abstract 1760: High expression of CASZ1 is associated with poor prognosis in ovarian cancer
Authors: Chuang Yuan-Jhe , Liang Yu-Ling , Chen Yuh-Ling , Hong Tse-Ming , Hsu Keng-Fu 
Published: July 2017

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) carries the highest mortality rate of all gynecologic malignancies. This high mortality rate is attributed to the fact that most cases of ovarian cancer are detected at late stages when metastases are already present. We previously demonstrated that castor zinc finger 1 (CASZ1) is up-regulated in EOC cells and promotes EOC cells metastasis. However, the relationship between the ovarian cancer patient’s prognosis and CASZ1 expression is not clear. In the present study, we examined CASZ1 and CA125 expressions in EOC using immunohistochemistry and correlated their expression levels with patient survival. From January 2008 to January 2012, 144 EOC patients who underwent staging or cytoreductive surgery at the National Cheng Kung University Hospital (NCKUH) were consecutively enrolled. Clinical and pathology information, including age, stage, cell type, chemo-response, and survival, was collected from medical charts. The staging met the criteria of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Classification (FIGO). Histological classification was defined according to the classification standards of the World Health Organization. The overall survival (OS) was calculated from the date of diagnosis. Progression-free survival (PFS) was measured as the period from surgery to the date of confirmed recurrence or disease progression or to the date of the investigators’ last note of a disease-free status. CASZ1, CA125 expression was evaluated by TissueFaxs microscopy system using an image analysis program. Five fields of the tumor in each slide (corresponding to a mean of 10000 tumors cells per case) were photographed. Images were acquired from using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS)-like tissue cytometry. The percentage of positive cells in each sample was further quantified using TissueQuest software (TissueGnostics, Vienna, Austria). The CASZ1 was significantly upregulated in advanced EOC tissues, compared with early stage tumors. High CASZ1 expression levels were significantly associated with worse EOC clinical characteristics. By univariate survival analysis, high CASZ1 levels significantly correlated with decreased overall survival, progression-free survival. In addition, patients with both high expression with CASZ1 and CA125 carried the worst prognosis. In conclusion, we demonstrate that high expression of CASZ1 levels correlates with an aggressive EOC phenotype and may contribute for poor prognosis in EOC patient. Determination of CASZ1 could be clinically useful in identifying high-risk EOC patients for a more aggressive adjuvant therapy.

Citation Format: Yuan-Jhe Chuang, Yu-Ling Liang, Yuh-Ling Chen, Tse-Ming Hong, Keng-Fu Hsu. High expression of CASZ1 is associated with poor prognosis in ovarian cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1760. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-1760