Overexpression of CD47 predicts poor prognosis and promotes cancer cell invasion in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma.

CD47 is an antiphagocytic signal that cancer cells employ to inhibit macrophage-mediated destruction. CD47 is overexpressed in various human malignancies. However, the expression and functional significance of CD47 in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) has not been completely understood. In this study, we reported that CD47 was commonly overexpressed in HGSOC. Higher CD47 expression was significantly correlated with poor prognosis of HGSOC patients. Functional investigations revealed that CD47 overexpression in ovarian cancer cells significantly promoted migration and invasion. Moreover, CD47 induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through modulating E-cadherin and N-cadherin. Our findings suggest that up-regulation of CD47 is correlated with ovarian cancer progression and it might be a potential biomarker for predicting clinical outcomes.