Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Aug 6, 2019; 7(15): 1996-2002
Published online Aug 6, 2019. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v7.i15.1996
Clinical significance and role of up-regulation of SERPINA3 expression in endometrial cancer
Mian-Li Zhou, Fang-Shan Chen, Hui Mao
Mian-Li Zhou, Fang-Shan Chen, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital Affiliated to Southwest Medical University, Luzhou 646000, Sichuan Province, China
Hui Mao, Department of Oncology, Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital Affiliated to Southwest Medical University, Luzhou 646000, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Zhou ML, Chen FS, and Mao H designed the study and wrote the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Southwest Medical University on October 28, 2016 (Research ethics No. CHEC2016-111).
Informed consent statement: All subjects gave informed consent prior to study inclusion.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hui Mao, MD, Professor, Department of Oncology, Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital Affiliated to Southwest Medical University, No. 182, Chunhui Road, Longmatan District, Luzhou 646000, Sichuan Province, China. 15196087724@163.com
Telephone: +86-830-2397165
Received: April 28, 2019
Peer-review started: May 7, 2019
First decision: May 30, 2019
Revised: June 19, 2019
Accepted: July 3, 2019
Article in press: July 3, 2019
Published online: August 6, 2019
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Serpin peptidase inhibitor, clade A member 3 (SERPINA3) belongs to the serpin family with an inhibitory activity against proteases. Its aberrant expression has been observed in a wide range of tumor cells. However, its clinical significance and biological function in endometrial cancer have been rarely studied. We designed a study to determine the levels of SERPINA3 and its significance in patients with endometrial cancer.

AIM

To investigate the clinical significance and role of SERPINA3 expression in endometrial cancer cells.

METHODS

Eighty endometrial tissue samples collected from patients with endometrial cancer were included in an observation group and 80 paraffin-embedded tissues samples collected from patients with normal endometrial tissues undergoing myomectomy were employed as a control group between January 2014 and December 2018. The expression of SERPINA3 mRNA was detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for all endometrial tissues included in the study.

RESULTS

The positive expression rate of SERPINA3 protein in endometrial cancer cells was 71.25% in the observation group, which was significantly higher than that in the control group (31.25%; P < 0.05). There was no correlation between SERPINA3 protein in endometrial cancer cells and the age range at which women experienced menopause (P > 0.05). However, it was associated with pathological grade, clinical stage, vascular invasion, and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). Pathological grade, clinical stage, vascular invasion, and lymph node metastasis were independent prognostic factors for endometrial cancer.

CONCLUSION

The follow-up study of SERPINA3 can be used as a prognostic biomarker for endometrial cancer and as one of the targets for bio-targeted therapy for endometrial cancer.

Keywords: Serpin peptidase inhibitor, clade A member 3, Endometrial cancer, Quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Expression

Core tip: Serpin peptidase inhibitor, clade A member 3 (SERPINA3) is considered to be associated with several cancers. In this study, the clinical significance and role of SERPINA3 expression in endometrial cancer were investigated. It was found that the expression of SERPINA3 was up-regulated in endometrial cancer and expression of SERPINA3 in endometrial cancer was correlated with pathological grade, clinical stage, vascular invasion, and lymph node metastasis. SERPINA3 has the potential to be used as a biomarker for prognosis and a specific target for targeted therapy in patients with endometrial carcinoma.