Clinico-Pathological Significances of Snail 1 & Cox2 Co-Expression in Serous Ovarian Carcinoma

Background, The aggressive phenotype and dismal prognosis of serous ovarian carcinoma (SOC) could be due to the presence of more genetic changes than in any other types of ovarian cancers. Epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) that became a logic explanation of cancer invasion, progression and spread is a process in which epithelial cell to cell contact loss and then a gain of mesenchymal characters occur. It is controlled by several pathways and EMT-stimulating transcription factors e. g. snail1. Snail has many essential roles in human cell proliferation, apoptosis and several steps of oncogenesis. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is an important enzyme in the production of the inflammatory mediators prostaglandins (PGs) that had many roles in a number of biologic processes. COX-2 overexpression had been found to be a linking molecule in inflammatory changes that are associated with neoplastic changes. The role of the EMT marker Snail1, inflammatory mediators, prostaglandins and their synthesizing enzyme Cox 2 in SOC oncogenesis had not been adequately clarified. The aim of the work, to explore Snail 1& Cox2 co-expression in SOC of different grades and stages correlation their expression with clincopathological criteria of the patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS We assesses Snail 1& Cox2 co-expression by using immunohistochemistry in sections from 40 SOC paraffin blocks then correlating such expression with clincopathological parameters. RESULTS, High expression of Snail 1 was significantly positively correlated with advanced age of the patient (p=0.01), higher grade (p=0.03), advanced FIGO stage (pless than0.001), presence of L. N (p=0.005), and distant metastases (p=0.006). High expression of Cox 2 was significantly positively correlated with advanced age of the patient, higher grade, , advanced FIGO stage, presence of L. N (pless than0.001) and distant metastases (p=0.005). Both Snail1 and Cox-2 were positively correlated with each other. Conclusion, Snail 1& Cox2 are markers of poor prognosis in SOC