Yuexi Liu,* Qiuying Gu,* Yao Xiao, Xing Wei, Jinlong Wang, Xiaolan Huang, Hua Linghu

Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Hua Linghu, Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016, People’s Republic of China, Email linghuhua@cqmu.edu.cn

Purpose: To evaluate Ki67 expression and prognostic value during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).
Patients and Methods: 95 patients with advanced EOC receiving NACT followed by interval debulking surgery (IDS) were available for tissue samples from matched pre- and post-therapy specimens. The expression of Ki-67 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and classified by percentage of stained cells. The optimal cutoff values of the Ki67 were assessed by receiver operating characteristic analysis. Kaplan-Meier analysis, the Log rank test, and Cox regression analysis were carried out to analyze survival.
Results: Post-NACT Ki67 was an independent prognostic factor for recurrence by univariate (HR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.1– 3.0, P-value: 0.023) and multivariate (HR: 1.88, 95% CI: 1.08– 3.26, P-value: 0.025) analysis. Residual disease > 1cm (HR: 2.69, 95% CI: 1.31– 5.54, P-value: 0.0070) and pre-treatment CA125 ≥ 1432 U/mL (HR: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.13– 3.55, P-value: 0.017) were also independent risk factors for progression-free survival (PFS) in multivariate analysis. Post-NACT Ki67 ≥ 20% was an independent risk factor for PFS, however, baseline Ki67 and Ki67 change did not suggest prognostic significance. In patients with high CA125, the median PFS for patients with high postKi67 (median PFS: 15.0 months, 95% CI: 13.4– 16.6 months) was significantly (P-value: 0.013) poorer compared to patients with low postKi67 (median PFS: 30.0 months, 95% CI: 13.5– 46.5 months).
Conclusion: Post-NACT Ki67 ≥ 20% was an independent factor associated with poorer PFS in patients with advanced-stage EOC undergoing NACT followed by IDS. The combination of post-NACT Ki67 and pretreatment CA125 could better identify patients with poorer PFS in NACT-administered patients.

Keywords: interval debulking surgery, progression-free survival, overall survival, tumor marker