The expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) in ovarian carcinomas and its clinicopathological associations: a retrospective study

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Background

Ovarian carcinoma remains the most mortality in gynecologic tumors [1]. There are 225,000 new cases diagnosed and 140,000 deaths of ovarian carcinoma annually worldwide [1]. The standard treatment remains surgery followed by platinum-based chemotherapy [2]. Acquired drug resistance and cancer recurrence become the main hurdles for ovarian carcinoma treatment currently [3]. As a result, new reagents targeting the chemo-resistant cells are needed. 

Aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDH) are a group of enzymes that catalyse dehydrogenation of aldehydes to their corresponding carboxylic acids. To date, nineteen ALDH genes which encode several isozymes have been identified in human genome.....

Table 2: ALDH1 IHC score in tumor cells			p-value
1 (negative)	2 (low)	3 (high)

Histological subtype:
Serous carcinoma	163	67 (41.1 %)	80 (49.1 %)	16 (9.8 %)
Mucinous carcinoma	18	4 (22.2 %)	3 (16.7 %)	11 (61.1 %)	<0.001
Endometrioid carcinoma	19	4 (21.1 %)	9 (47.4 %)	6 (31.6 %)
Clear cell carcinoma	11	6 (54.5 %)	4 (36.4 %)	1 (9.1 %)
Mixed epithelial tumor	11	2 (18.2 %)	6 (54.5 %)	3 (27.3 %)
Undifferentiated tumor	5	3 (60.0 %)	1 (20.0 %)	1 (20.0 %)
Unclassified tumor and others	21

Conclusion

In summary, the current views of ALDH1 predictive role in ovarian carcinomas remain controversial, and the present long-term follow-up retrospective study reveals that high ALDH1 expression in tumor cells portends favorable prognosis and better survivals in patients with ovarian carcinoma, but the expression of ALDH1 in stromal cells has no associations with clinical outcomes. More studies are warranted to verify the potential role of ALDH1 in ovarian carcinoma progression and the molecular mechanisms involved.