The p73, a homologue of the
p53 tumor suppressor protein, has a pro-apoptotic activity which is induced by the c-Abl, a
protein tyrosine kinase appearing in the nucleus and cytoplasm of proliferating cells. However, the role of p73 and c-Abl in
ovarian cancer is not well-defined. We investigated immunohistochemical expressions of p73 and c-Abl in 64 ovarian
carcinomas, 13 borderline and 14 benign ovarian
tumors to elucidate their clinicopathological relevances. Of the malignant, borderline, and benign ovarian
tumors, respectively, 33 (51%), 10 (77%) and 13 (93%) had negative or low p73 expression, 31 (48%), 3 (23%) and 1 (7%) had high p73 expression, 23 (36%), 5 (38%) and 10 (71%) had negative or low c-Abl expression, and 41 (64%), 8 (61%) and 4 (29%) had high c-Abl expression. A high p73 or c-Abl expression was significantly associated with ovarian
carcinomas as compared to benign
tumors (p=0.003 and p=0.03 respectively). In addition, a significant correlation was found between the high p73 expression and disease stage (p=0.04) and patient's survival (p=0.02). No correlation was found with c-Abl expression. These results reveal an association of p73 overexpression with advanced ovarian
carcinomas which may suggest the p73 overexpression as an
indicator of poor prognosis.