Association of myeloperoxidase with ovarian cancer.

Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is an oxidant generating enzyme normally restricted to myeloid cells, however aberrant MPO expression has been found to occur in non-myeloid cells in some disease states. The functional -463GA promoter polymorphism alters MPO expression levels. The -463G is within an SP1 binding site and is associated with higher gene expression. The G allele is most frequent with ~62% of European populations being GG homozygotes. The GA polymorphism has been associated with risk or survival in a variety of cancers including lung and breast cancer. In this study we determined the frequency of the -463G/A polymorphism in 230 ovarian cancer patients, 75 patients with borderline ovarian tumors, and 299 healthy controls. The GG genotype was found to be overrepresented in patients with early stage ovarian cancer (83.3% GG, p = 0.008) as compared to healthy controls (62% GG), suggesting that MPO oxidants may increase risk. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed MPO expression in a subset of columnar ovarian epithelial carcinoma cells in early stage carcinomas.