Prognostic value of β-Arrestins in combination with glucocorticoid receptor in epithelial ovarian cancer

Abstract

Hormones may be key factors driving cancer development, and epidemiological findings suggest that steroid hormones play a crucial role in ovarian tumorigenesis. We demonstrated that high glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression is associated with a poor prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer. Recent studies have shown that the GR affects beta-arrestin expression, and vice versa. Hence, we assessed the clinical significance of beta-arrestin expression in ovarian cancer and determined whether beta-arrestin and the GR synergistically have clinical significance and value as prognostic factors. We evaluated the expression of beta-arrestins 1 and 2 and the GR in 169 patients with primary epithelial ovarian cancer using immunohistochemistry. The staining intensity was graded on a scale of 0-4 and multiplied by the percentage of positive cells. We divided the samples into two categories based on the expression levels. beta-arrestin 1 and GR expression showed a moderate correlation, whereas beta-arrestin 2 and GR expression did not demonstrate any correlation. Patients with high beta-arrestin 1 and 2 expression exhibited improved survival rates, whereas patients with low GR expression showed a better survival rate. Patients with high beta-arrestin 1 and low GR levels had the best prognosis among all groups. beta-arrestin is highly expressed in ovarian cancer, suggesting its potential as a diagnostic and therapeutic biomarker. The combination of beta-arrestin and GR demonstrated greater predictive prognostic power than GR expression alone, implicating another possible role in prognostication.