TNFAIP8 as a predictor of metastasis and a novel prognostic biomarker in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer

Background: Tumour necrosis factor-alpha-induced protein 8 (TNFAIP8) has been recently documented in various malignancies, but its role in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) remains unknown. Methods: Tumour necrosis factor-alpha-induced protein 8 expression was determined by real-time reverse transcription PCR and western blot analysis. Tumour tissues, consisting of serous, mucinous, endometrioid and clear cell histotypes, from 202 EOC patients (International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians I-IV) who underwent primary cytoreduction were collected. Then, we examined the immunohistochemical expression of TNFAIP8 and evaluated its clinical significances. Results: Tumour necrosis factor-alpha-induced protein 8 overexpression was significantly associated with high histologic grade (P = 0.005), large residual tumour size (P = 0.014), recurrence (P = 0.024) and response to chemotherapy (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that TNFAIP8 overexpression was independently correlated with the presence of lymph node (odds ratio (OR): 4.129; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.491-11.435; P = 0.006) and intraperitoneal metastasis (OR: 2.209; 95% CI: 1.174-4.156; P = 0.014). Moreover, results revealed that the status of TNFAIP8 expression was an independently prognostic factor for both cancer-specific survival (hazard ratio (HR): 1.852; 95% CI: 1.322-2.594; P < 0.001) and disease-free survival (HR: 1.724; 95% CI: 1.235-2.407; P = 0.001) in patients with EOC. Conclusion: The present data provide evidence that TNFAIP8 predicts EOC metastasis and poor survival, highlighting its potential function as a therapeutic target for EOCs.