Abstract:

Objective   To investigate tissue expression and serum level of perm-associated antigen 9(SPAG9) in serous ovarian tumors, and explore its diagnostic significance. Methods   Expression of the SPAG9 protein was retrospectively detected in paraffin sections from 24 benign epithelial ovarian tumors, 27 borderline serous epithelial ovarian tumors, and 32 serous ovarian carcinomas by immunohistochemistry. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the level of serum SPAG9 in patients with epithelial ovarian tumors, and the correlation between serum levels of SPAG9 and CA125 was analyzed. Clinical values of SPAG9 and CA125 were evaluated by the receive operating characteristic ( ROC) curve. Results   ①Expression of SPAG9 in serous ovarian carcinomas was obviously higher than that in benign and borderline serous tumors. And it was associated with the grade of tissue differentiation(P＜0.05). ② The serum SPAG9 level in serous ovarian carcinomas was statistically higher than that in benign epithelial ovarian tumors. In addition, statistical analysis showed a positive correlation  between serum levels of SPAG9 and CA125(P＜0.01). The ROC curve revealed that SPAG9 had a significant value in the diagnosis of serous ovarian carcinomas, while it was not preferable to CA125.  Conclusion   SPAG9, highly expressed in serous ovarian carcinomas, is positively associated with the grade of malignancy. It may serve as a new biological marker  for early diagnosis and post-operative treatment of epithelial ovarian tumors.

Key words: Sperm-associated antigen 9; Serous epithelial ovarian tumor; Carbohydrate antigen CA125