Abstract:

Objective  To investigate expression of MCP-1 ｍRNA　in ovarian epithelial tumors and to explore their clinical significance. Methods  Expression of MCP-1 mRNA in 12 cases of benign ovarian tumor, 6 cases of borderline ovarian tumor, 22 cases of primary ovarian carcinoma and 8 cases of recurrent ovariancarcinoma was analyzed by semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and was compared with that in 10 normal ovarian tissue samples. Results   The positive rate of MCP-1 in normal ovarian tissue, benign ovarian tumor, borderline ovarian tumor, primary and recurrent ovarian carcinoma was25.0%, 25.0%,50.0%, 95.5% and 87.5%, respectively. The expressive intensity was 0.11±0.01, 0.18±0.03, 0.51±-0.05, 0.73±0.08 and 0.45±0.08, respectively. The positive rate and expressive intensity of MCP-1 were significantly higher in borderline than in benign ovarian tumor, and were significantly higher in ovarian carcinoma than in borderline tumor. There was no correlation between expression of MCP-1 and histo logical grade and lymph node metastasis. MCP-1 expression positive rate and intensityin stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ were lower than that in stageⅠ-Ⅱ, but there were no significant differences. MCP-1 expressive intensity in primary ovarian carcinoma was significantly increased in recurrent ovarian carcinoma. The degree of macrophage infiltration was grossly correlated with the level of MCP-1 expression.  Conclusions  MCP-1 may play an important role in the genesis and development of ovarian tumor.MCP-1has a potential anti-tumor effect by recruitment and activation of macrophages in tumor tissues, suggesting an effective immunotherapy for ovarian carcinoma.

Key words: Ovarian tumor; Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1; Chemokine; Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction