CIRCULATING FORMS OF P-CADHERIN, AMPHOTHERIN, AND CYCLOPHYLIN A IN OVARIAN CANCER

Introduction. Ovarian cancer (OC) remains one of the most aggressive and detrimental oncological diseases of the female reproductive system, primarily due to late diagnosis and the lack of reliable markers for early detection and monitoring. P-cadherin, amphoterin, and cyclophilin A have been shown to be involved in intercellular adhesion and activation of proinflammatory signaling pathways, which may contribute to tumor progression. Aim. To comparative analysis of the content of P-cadherin, amphoterin and cyclophilin A in the blood serum of healthy women, patients with ovarian cancer and borderline tumors, their relationship with key clinical and morphological characteristics of the disease. Material and methods. The study included 48 patients with ovarian cancer at various stages, 11 patients with borderline ovarian tumors, and 13 healthy women who formed the control group. Serum protein concentrations were determined before treatment using standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits: Human P-Cadherin ELISA Kit and Human Cyclophilin ELISA Kit (RayBiotech, USA), and Human HMGB-1 (High Mobility group protein B1) ELISA Kit (Elabscience, China). Statistical analysis was performed using nonparametric criteria and ROC analysis. Results. The concentration of P-cadherin was statistically significantly higher in patients with ovarian cancer compared to the control group (p=0.0008) and patients with borderline ovarian tumors (p=0.002), while no differences in the levels of amphotericin and cyclophilin A in the serum were found between patients with ovarian cancer, borderline ovarian tumors, and the control group. ROC analysis demonstrated moderate diagnostic value of P-cadherin (AUC=0.802), with the optimal cutoff level (6.1 ng/ml) providing 75% sensitivity and 85% specificity. No statistically significant relationships were found between the content of the studied proteins and the clinical and morphological characteristics of ovarian cancer. Conclusions. Significantly higher baseline serum P-cadherin concentrations were found in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer before treatment, compared with those with borderline ovarian tumors and healthy controls. Serum P-cadherin levels in ovarian cancer patients were not associated with tumor morphological type and differentiation grade, clinical stage, the presence of ascites, or criteria T, N, and M. A comparative analysis of the P-cadherin ROC curve data showed the model's moderate diagnostic accuracy for ovarian cancer compared to healthy controls, which precludes the use of serum P-cadherin levels as a diagnostic marker for this disease. The obtained results of the study of soluble forms of P-cadherin, amphoterin, and cyclophilin A in malignant and borderline ovarian tumors strongly suggest the continuation of this work and the expansion of the patient cohort.