Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of Sox2, a transcription factor, in a series of benign, borderline, and malignant ovarian tumors and to evaluate whether Sox2 expression levels correlate with clinicopathological characteristics in ovarian epithelial carcinoma.
Methods: This study investigated immunohistochemical expressions of Sox2 in 43 species of normal ovarian epithelia, 284 species of serous epithelial lesions, and 164 species of mucinous epithelial lesions to assess their clinicopathological relevance.
Results: Immunohistochemical results showed that the positive ratio of Sox2 expression gradually increased from benign and borderline to malignant ovarian tumors; 55.81% of normal ovarian epithelia, ~65% of serous and mucinous cystadenoma, ~70% of borderline serous and mucinous cystadenoma, and ~91% of serous and mucinous cystadenocarcinoma expressed Sox2, respectively. However, there was no significant correlation between Sox2 expression and the age and level of CA125 in patients with either serous or mucinous tumors. Positive correlations between Sox2 expression levels and FIGO stage or pathological stage were identified in both serous and mucinous cystadenocarcinoma samples.
Conclusion: The expression level of Sox2 in human ovarian tumors was directly proportional to their degree of malignancy, implying that Sox2 overexpression may be closely related to the malignant transformation of ovarian tumors.