Prognostic value of Ki-67 in patients with ovarian cancer

Background: The present work focused on investigating if Ki-67 antigen (Ki-67) could be used to predict prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Methods: This study retrospectively identified 78 consecutive epithelial ovarian cancer cases who underwent surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College between January 2014 and April 2017. The association between Ki-67 expression and clinicopathological characteristics and survival was analyzed. Results: High Ki-67 expression was significantly associated with high stage, high histological grade, ascites, and high level of cancer antigen 125 (CA125) (p = 0.011, p = 0.031, p = 0.033, p = 0.004, respectively). In addition, high Ki-67 expression was significantly associated with poor prognosis (p = 0.002), which was further confirmed using a multivariate Cox regression hazards model (Hazard Ratio (HR) = 1.797, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.038-3.111, p = 0.026). Conclusions: Ki-67 expression may be a significant prognostic factor in epithelial ovarian cancer.