Endothelial Dysfunction Markers in Ovarian Cancer: VTE Risk and Tumour Prognostic Outcomes

Ovarian cancer (OC) presents daunting lethality rates worldwide, with frequent late-stage diagnosis and chemoresistance, highlighting the need for improved prognostic approaches. Venous thromboembolism (VTE), a major cancer mortality factor, is partially driven by endothelial dysfunction (ED). ED's pro-inflammatory state fosters tumour progression, suggesting a VTE-independent link between ED and cancer. Given this triad's interplay, ED markers may influence OC behaviour and patients' prognosis. Thus, the impact of ED-related genes and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on OC-related VTE and patient thrombogenesis-independent prognosis was investigated. NOS3 upregulation was linked to lower VTE incidence (chi 2, p = 0.013), while SELP upregulation was associated with shorter overall survival (log-rank test, p = 0.048). Dismissing patients with VTE before OC diagnosis, SELP rs6136 T allele carriers presented lower progression-free survival (log-rank test, p = 0.038). Nevertheless, due to the SNP minor allele underrepresentation, further investigation is required. Taken together, ED markers seem to exhibit roles that depend on the clinical context, such as tumour-related thrombogenesis or cancer prognosis. Validation with larger cohorts and more in-depth functional studies are needed for data clarification and potential therapeutic strategies exploitation to tackle cancer progression and thrombosis in OC patients.