Abstract

Background: Several factors have been evaluated for their competency as applied biomarkers regarding diagnosis and therapy of ovarian cancer as one of the most cause of death due to the gynecologic malignancies. However, some Fox-factors have been shown to modulate cancer progression primarily by their impacts on the proliferation of the cells, the expression and potential function of FOXR2 (Forkhead Box R2), newly identified as a probable oncogene in a few human cancers, remains undecided in ovarian cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the FOXR2 and some epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related gene expression profiles in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) tissues and their healthy samples as well as an ovarian cancer cell line (SKOV-3). Methods: In this observational study, 20 epithelial ovarian adenocarcinoma and their marginal samples, obtained from 20 women with EOC, as well as SKOV-3, were investigated for the relative gene expression levels of FOXR2, CDH1 (encoding E-cadherin) and FN1 (encoding fibronectin-1) in 2 groups using qualitative real-time polyme-rase chain reaction technique (qRT-PCR). Results: The findings demonstrated a significant up--regulation of FOXR2 and FN1 despite the CDH1 down-regulation in case samples compared to controls (P < 0.05). There was a significant correlation between FOXR2 gene expression profile and EMT-related markers in high-grade tumors. Furthermore, the biomarker index of 0.772 was obtained for FOXR2 gene expression levels. Conclusions: The findings indicated that the expression levels of FOXR2 have a significant association with ovarian cancer as far as it can be used as a diagnostic and therapeutic molecular biomarker in ovarian cancer. © 2020, Czech Medical Association J.E. Purkyne. All rights reserved.