The KLK13-positive group was significantly associated with pT classification (deeper tumor invasions; P = 0.0282), pN classification (lymph node metastasis; P = 0.0163), and advanced TNM stage (P = 0.0198).
However, reduced KLK13 expression is correlated with disease aggressiveness, including higher tumor stage and grade, and high-risk TaT1 tumors according to the EORTC stratification.
Kaplan-Meier survival analyses demonstrated that patients with KLK13-positive tumors survived significantly longer than those with KLK13-negative ones (P = 0.009).
The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic significance of kallikrein-related peptidase 6 (KLK6) and kallikrein-related peptidase 13 (KLK13) in epithelial ovarian cancer by quantifying gene expression levels with tumour pathology and patient survival data.