The diagnostic/prognostic significance of serum Golgi phosphoprotein 3 in ovarian cancer

Background: Ovarian cancer (OC) is a serious healthcare problem and early detection is a fundamental stone in improving patient survival. Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) is found to be increased in various cancers including OC. This study aimed to investigate GOLPH3 levels in OC patients and explore its clinical significance. Methods: A total of 68 females were enrolled in the study: 43 OC patients and 25 apparently healthy volunteers as control group, Peripheral blood samples were collected and serum GOLPH3, cancer antigen (CA) 125 and CA19-9 were measured using ELISA. The diagnostic value of GOLPH3, CA125 and CA19-9 was investigated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: Serum GOLPH3 levels showed about 3-fold increase in OC patients compared to healthy control subjects (P< 0.001). Advanced stages OC patients had higher GOLPH3 levels than early stages (P= 0.006). Also, higher GOLPH3 levels were detected in serous histological OC compared to non-serous subtypes (P= 0.011), linking GOLPH3 to OC aggressiveness and poor prognosis. Moreover, serum GOLPH3 showed positive associations with tumor grade and lymph node metastasis (P< 0.01) but not distant metastasis. Interestingly, there is a strong positive correlation between GOLPH3 and neutrophils-to-lymphocytes ratio (r= 0.732 at P< 0.001), indicating its possible link to inflammation, a key hallmark of cancer. In addition, serum GOLPH3 levels showed AUC and sensitivity superior to CA125 and CA19-9. Conclusions: This study highlights the role of GOLPH3 in OC as both a promising diagnostic biomarker for OC detection and a key contributor to disease prognosis.