Overexpression of cofilin 1 can predict progression-free survival in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer receiving standard therapy

The aim of this study was to examine the relation between cofilin 1 expression and progression-free survival in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer. We performed quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical analysis in 78 patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (excluding those with mucinous and clear-cell types). All patients received the standard therapy, including staging laparotomy and adjuvant chemotherapy consisting of carboplatin and paclitaxel. Of 78 samples, RNA from 62 samples was available for reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis. We defined cofilin 1 high expression as relative gene expression equal to or higher than the median and low expression as gene expression lower than median. The progression-free survival was longer in cofilin 1 low-expression cases than in high-expression cases (P = .039). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that stage and cofilin 1 expression were significant predictors of progression-free survival. Of the 78 samples, 54 were appropriate for immunohistochemical study. In 35 of those 54 cases, cofilin 1 protein expression was detected. The progression-free survival was longer in cofilin 1 protein-negative cases than in protein-positive cases (P = .042). Expression of cofilin 1 may predict the progression-free survival of patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer receiving standard therapy.