Tumor necrosis factor-alpha and its receptors in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to characterize the expression pattern of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and its receptors (TNF-Rs) in the epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and compare these results with the outcome of 126 patients. Presence of TNF-alpha, TNFR-1 and TNFR-2 were studied by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. The proportion of samples positive for TNF-alpha and TNF-R2 was higher in epithelial ovarian cancer patients than in benign ovarian diseases (