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Elevated growth differentiation factor 15 expression predicts poor prognosis in epithelial ovarian cancer patients

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Tumor Biology

An Erratum to this article was published on 12 March 2016

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the expression of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) and explore its clinical significance in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients. The expression of GDF15 in EOC tissues and serum samples was evaluated using immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. The association of GDF15 expression with clinicopathologic parameters was analyzed. Survival time was assessed using the Kaplan–Meier technique and Cox regression model. Both in EOC tissues and serum, high GDF15 levels were obviously related with advanced International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, lymph node metastasis, ascites, and chemoresistance. Kaplan–Meier analysis indicated that EOC patients with high GDF15 expression showed poorer progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that GDF15 expression was an independent predictor of PFS in EOC patients. Our study shows that elevated GDF15 expression was associated with poor prognosis in EOC patients. We suggest that GDF15 is a novel biomarker for the early detection of EOC, prediction of the response to chemotherapy, and screening for recurrence in EOC patients.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. The State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Biotechnology Center, School of Pharmacy, The Fourth Military Medical University, 17 Changle West Road, 710032, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

      Ying Zhang, Cun Zhang, Wei-na Li & Ying-qi Zhang

    2. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, The People’s Liberation Army 323 Hospital, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710045, China

      Ying Zhang, Li-chun Niu & Shi-mei Li

    3. State Key Laboratory of Tumor Biology, Department of Pathology, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710033, China

      Wei Hua & Ying-mei Wang

    4. Department of Health Service, School of Public Health, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710033, China

      Lei Shang & Rui Wang

    5. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 Changle West Road, 710033, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

      Bi-liang Chen, Xiao-yan Xin & Jian Wang

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    1. Ying Zhang
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    2. Wei Hua
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    Correspondence to Ying-qi Zhang or Jian Wang.

    Additional information

    Ying Zhang and Wei Hua contributed equally to this work.

    An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13277-016-5008-z.

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    Zhang, Y., Hua, W., Niu, Lc. et al. Elevated growth differentiation factor 15 expression predicts poor prognosis in epithelial ovarian cancer patients. Tumor Biol. 37, 9423–9431 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-4699-x

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-4699-x

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