Comparison of prognoses according to non‐positive and positive spectrinαII expression detected immunohistochemically in epithelial ovarian carcinoma: a retrospective study

Anticancer drug sensitivity affects prognosis in ovarian carcinoma. Previously, we purified spectrin αII and βII tetramers from cisplatin‐resistant ovarian serous adenocarcinoma cells and demonstrated that they contribute to platinum anticancer drug resistance. In this clinical study, we focused on the role of spectrin αII expression. It is our objective to demonstrate the potential of spectrin αII expression as a useful predictor of anticancer drug resistance and postoperative prognosis in epithelial ovarian carcinoma. Spectrin αII expression in the ovarian adenocarcinoma surgical specimens of 193 patients was examined by immunohistochemical staining. Staining strength was scored 3+, regarded as positive expression, and 2+, 1+, and 0, regarded as non‐positive expression. Prognoses obtained from clinical records were evaluated by statistical analysis. In the 193 cases studied, positive spectrin αII expression was associated with worse overall survival when compared with non‐positive expression (P