UCA1 overexpression predicts clinical outcome of patients with ovarian cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy

Urothelial carcinoma associated 1 (UCA1) functions as an oncogene, which promotes cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis, and is responsible for drug resistance. This study aimed to determine the expression level of UCA1 in ovarian cancer and to further investigate its clinical significance. The expression levels of UCA1 in ovarian cancer and normal ovaries were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. The relationship between UCA1 expression and clinical features and the prognostic value of UCA1 for overall survival were examined. UCA1 expression in ovarian cancer tissues was significantly upregulated compared with normal ovarian tissues. High UCA1 expression was related to lymph node metastasis, FIGO stage, and response to chemotherapy. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that high UCA1 expression was associated with poorer overall survival in patients with ovarian cancer. Cox proportional hazards analysis showed that high UCA1 expression was an independent prognostic marker of poor outcome. This effect remained significant in the further stratification analysis. Our findings provided the first evidence that UCA1 may serve as an indicator of response to chemotherapy and prognosis of ovarian cancer. UCA1 may play an important role in the progression of ovarian cancer.