Paired box gene 2 is associated with estrogen receptor α in ovarian serous tumors: Potential theory basis for targeted therapy.

It has been suggested that Paired box gene (PAX)2 is activated by estradiol via estrogen receptor (ER)α in breast and endometrial cancer. The expression of PAX2 was restricted to ovarian serous tumors and only one case was positive in borderline mucinous tumor in our previous study. In the present study, immunohistochemistry was performed to assess the expression of ERα in 58 cases of ovarian serous tumors, including 30 serous cystadenomas, 16 borderline serous cystadenomas, 12 serous carcinomas and 67 cases of ovarian mucinous tumors, including 29 mucinous cystadenoma, 23 borderline mucinous cystadenoma and 15 mucinous carcinoma, which were the same specimens with detection of PAX2 expression. The results demonstrated that ERα was expressed in 10% (3/30) of serous cystadenomas, 62.5% (10/16) borderline serous cystadenomas and 66.7% (8/12) serous carcinomas. The expression of ERα in borderline serous cystadenomas and serous carcinomas were significantly higher compared with that in serous cystadenomas (P<0.01). ERα was detected in 3.4% (1/29) mucinous cystadenoma, 26.1% (6/23) borderline mucinous cystadenoma and only 6.7% (1/15) mucinous carcinoma. Furthermore, a scatter plot of the expression of PAX2 and ERα revealed a linear correlation between them in ovarian serous tumors (P<0.0001). With few positive results, no correlation was determined in ovarian mucinous tumors. It was demonstrated that PAX2 is associated with ERα in ovarian serous tumors, and this may become a potential theory basis for targeted therapy for ovarian serous tumors. Further research is required to determine how PAX2 and ERα work together, and the role of targeted therapy in ovarian serous tumors.