Objective: To determine the expression of lipoxygenase (LOX) pathway receptors in ovarian cancer as a potential target for anti-LOX-based therapy.
Study design: Paraffin-embedded tumor samples from epithelial ovarian cancer patients were used to construct tissue microarrays to stain for the proposed sites of inhibition of a LOX inhibitor (5-LOX, LTB4-BLT1, and LTB4-BLT2).
Results: 245 samples were available for interpretation. Strong expression was demonstrated in 45%, 34%, and 6% of ovarian cancer for LTB4-BLT2, LTB4-BLT1, and 5-LOX, respectively. Expression of LTB4-BLT2 correlated with advanced stage III/IV disease (P = .05), suboptimal debulking (P = .07), and platinum resistance (P = .03). No correlation was seen with regard to disease-free survival.
Conclusions: LOX pathway receptor expression was found in the majority of cancers evaluated. Additionally, LTB4-BLT2 expression portends worse clinical parameters for ovarian cancer. Thus, further investigation on the role of LOX pathway in ovarian cancer is warranted.