PURPOSE Aberrant expression of different tight junction proteins, including the junctional adhesion molecule-A (JAM-A), has been frequently reported in association with tumor progression of several malignancies. To our knowledge, this is the first study examining the clinical significance of JAM-A gene expression in epithelial ovarian cancer. METHODS JAM-A expression levels in 44 epithelial ovarian cancer and 12 benign formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples were determined by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine the diagnostic and prognostic potential of JAM-A. Associations between JAM-A expression and clinicopathological characteristics of epithelial ovarian cancer were analyzed using Fisher's exact test. The Kaplan-Meier method and univariate Cox regression analysis were used for the survival analysis. P ⩽ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS ROC curve analyses showed that JAM-A gene expression exhibits both diagnostic and prognostic performance in epithelial ovarian cancer (area under the curve (AUC) 0.640, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.488, 0.792, sensitivity 43.18%, specificity 100% and AUC 0.621, 95% CI 0.427, 0.816, sensitivity 52.63%, specificity 85%, respectively). JAM-A expression was significantly associated with International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (FIGO) stage (P =0.049) and the Kaplan-Meier method demonstrated that patients with high expression of JAM-A had significantly worse overall survival compared to patients with low JAM-A expression (P =0.004). Moreover, univariate Cox regression analysis showed that FIGO stage, peritoneal metastasis, residual tumor and JAM-A expression were significantly associated with reduced overall survival in epithelial ovarian cancer. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that high levels of JAM-A expression are associated with an advanced clinicopathological feature and may have diagnostic potential; also, it could be a predictor of poor overall survival in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.

中文翻译：

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连接粘附分子-A 的高表达与上皮性卵巢癌患者的生存率低有关。

目的 不同紧密连接蛋白的异常表达，包括连接粘附分子-A (JAM-A)，经常被报道与几种恶性肿瘤的肿瘤进展有关。据我们所知，这是第一项检查 JAM-A 基因表达在上皮性卵巢癌中的临床意义的研究。方法 通过逆转录定量聚合酶链反应测定 44 例上皮性卵巢癌和 12 例良性福尔马林固定石蜡包埋样本中的 JAM-A 表达水平。接受者操作特征 (ROC) 曲线分析用于确定 JAM-A 的诊断和预后潜力。使用 Fisher 精确检验分析 JAM-A 表达与上皮性卵巢癌临床病理学特征之间的关联。Kaplan-Meier方法和单变量Cox回归分析用于生存分析。P0.05被认为具有统计学意义。结果 ROC 曲线分析表明，JAM-A 基因表达在上皮性卵巢癌中表现出诊断和预后性能（曲线下面积（AUC）0.640，95% 置信区间（CI）0.488，0.792，敏感性 43.18%，特异性 100% 和AUC 0.621、95% CI 0.427、0.816，灵敏度分别为 52.63%、特异性 85%）。JAM-A 表达与国际妇产科医师联合会 (FIGO) 分期显着相关 (P =0.049)，Kaplan-Meier 方法表明，与低 JAM 患者相比，JAM-A 高表达患者的总生存期明显更差-A 表达 (P =0.004)。而且，单变量 Cox 回归分析显示，FIGO 分期、腹膜转移、残留肿瘤和 JAM-A 表达与上皮性卵巢癌的总生存率降低显着相关。结论 我们的结果表明，高水平的 JAM-A 表达与晚期临床病理学特征相关，并可能具有诊断潜力；此外，它可能是上皮性卵巢癌患者总生存期较差的预测指标。