Investigation of apelin and APJ receptor tissue distributions in high grade serous ovarian carcinoma with and without lymph node involvement

Ovarian cancer is an important health problem because of its advanced diagnosis and high mortality rates. Serous carcinoma, the most common subtype, can be detected in advanced stage and after distant metastasis or lymph node metastasis. The apelin molecule, an adipokine associated with obesity and diabetes in recent years and its receptor APJ which are considered to be effective factors for lymphatic invasion and angiogenesis can both affect the lymph node involvement in serous ovarian carcinomas. In our study, demographic data such as age, body mass index, survival rates, as well as tumor / stroma ratio, apelin and APJ immunoreactivity in relation to lymph node involvement were investigated in high grade serous carcinomas. For this purpose, sections labelled with indirect immunoperoxidase method were evaluated by MATLAB analysis and statistical analysis was performed. In obese and preobese patients, apelin expression in tumor cells was found to be more severe than in patients with normal body mass index. It was found that the rate of lymph node involvement was higher and the survival rate was lower in the stroma rich group. Severe apelin and moderate APJ immunoreactivity was detected according to H-score in both groups with and without lymph node involvement. There was no statistical difference between the groups. As a result of this study, increased apelin immunoreactivity in tumor cells in obese and preobese serous carcinoma patients was first demonstrated. In the study of apelin and lymph node involvement in advanced stage serous carcinomas, apelin / APJ system should be evaluated in stromal compartment cells.