Abstract: Objective To detect the expression of B7-H4 in epithelial ovarian carcinoma， and analyze the relationship between B7-H4 and clinical pathological characteristics， prognosis of epithelial ovarian carcinoma.
Methods The expression of B7-H4 protein was examined in 66 cases of epithelial ovarian carcinoma，5 cases of border line ovarian tumors， 8 cases of benign ovarian tumors and 20 normal ovary tissues by immunohistochemical technique. The association between the expression of B7-H4 protein and clinicopathological characteristics， prognosis in patients with epithelial ovarian carcinoma was further analyzed.
Results The positive expression rate of B7-H4 in epithelial ovarian carcinoma was 86.4％， while it did not express in borderline ovarian tumors， benign ovarian tumors and normal ovarian tissue. The positive rates of B7-H4 protein in serous adenocarcinoma， endometrioid carcinoma and clear cell carcinoma were 100.0％， 90.0％ and 87.5％， higher than 50.0％ in mucinouscarcinomas（P＜0.05）.The positive rate of B7-H4 protein was related with clincal stage， histological grade and lymphatic metastasis， but not with age and ascitescytology. B7-H4 was not correlated with survival of patients（P＞0.05）. Conclusion The expression of B7-H4 is up-regulated in epithelial ovarian carcinoma， and it plays an important role in the occurrence and development of epithelial ovarian carcinoma.