Huang X, Wei X, Qiao S, et al. - The development of drug-resistance greatly reduces the efficacy of post-surgery platinum-based chemotherapy, the primary choice for the treatment of ovarian cancer (OC). Researchers examined if the expression of low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGCR), two cholesterol metabolism-related proteins, in OC tissues is associated with chemoresistance and patient prognosis.

• Survival analysis was conducted online using LDLR and HMGCR expression in the ovarian cancer patients using the dataset of Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO).

• Poorer prognosis was recorded for patients with higher LDLR expression vs those with lower LDLR expression in ovarian cancer cells, while better OC prognosis was evident in correlation with a higher HMGCR expression.

• Relative to platinum-sensitive patients, those with platinum-resistance showed higher levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and cholesterol in serum.

• As per immunohistochemistry results, platinum-resistant patients exhibit high LDLR expression and low HMGCR expression.

• Findings overall suggest a possible role of cholesterol metabolic reprogramming in platinum resistance in ovarian cancer.