Objective To investigate the relationships of the expression of interferon-induced protein 27 (IFI27) and dynamin 3 (DNM3) with angiogenesis and platinum-resistant recurrence in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).

Methods A prospective cohort study design was adopted, and 129 EOC patients scheduled for surgery combined with platinum-based chemotherapy were enrolled as the study subjects. Cancerous tissues and adjacent non-cancerous tissues were collected from the patients. The expression levels of IFI27 mRNA and DNM3 mRNA in the tissue samples were detected using real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The expressions of angiogenesis markers, microvascular density (MVD) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC). After surgery, the patients received standard platinum-based chemotherapy regimen. They were regularly followed up for recurrence and divided into platinum-resistant group and platinum-sensitive group. The associations of the expressions of IFI27 and DNM3 with platinum-resistant recurrence were analyzed.

Results All 129 patients completed surgery combined with chemotherapy. Forty-nine patients with chemotherapy-resistant recurrence were included in platinum-resistant group, and the remaining 80 patients were included in platinum-sensitive group. There was a significant difference in the degree of differentiation between the two groups (P=0.001). The expression level of IFI27 mRNA in cancerous tissues was higher than that in adjacent non-cancerous tissues, while the expression level of DNM3 mRNA was lower than that in adjacent non-cancerous tissues. The expression levels of MVD and VEGF were higher than those in adjacent non-cancerous tissues, with statistically significant differences (P < 0.001). In the platinum-resistant group, the expression level of IFI27 mRNA was higher than that in the platinum-sensitive group, the expression level of DNM3 mRNA was lower than that in the platinum-sensitive group, and the expression levels of MVD and VEGF were higher than those in the platinum-sensitive group, with statistically significant differences (P < 0.05 or P < 0.001). Pearson correlation analysis showed that the expressions of VEGF and MVD in EOC patients were positively correlated with the expression of IFI27 (r=0.643, 0.765, P < 0.05), respectively, and negatively correlated with the expression of DNM3 (r=-0.573, -0.632, P < 0.05), respectively. Low degree of differentiation and high expression of IFI27 were independent risk factors for platinum-resistant recurrence in EOC patients (P < 0.05), while high expression of DNM3 was an independent protective factor (P < 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the area under the curve (AUC) for the combined prediction of platinum-resistant recurrence in EOC patients by IFI27 and DNM3 was 0.863, which was greater than the AUCs for their individual indicators (0.815, 0.704).

Conclusion High expression of IFI27 and low expression of DNM3 are significantly associated with angiogenesis and platinum-resistant recurrence in EOC. Their combined detection has a high predictive efficacy for platinum-resistant recurrence in EOC patients within one year.