High histone H3K18 lactylation level is correlated with poor prognosis in epithelial ovarian cancer

Protein lactylation has a poor prognosis in malignant tumors, but its impact on the prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) remains unknown. We analyzed 112 patients with EOC. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the level of pan lactylation (Pan Kla) and histone H3K18 lactylation (H3K18la) in the EOC tissues and normal ovarian tissues. The result showed that the protein lactylation level in EOC was higher than in normal tissues. Then, we analyzed the relationship between overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) of EOC, and lactylation. The result showed that patients with high histone H3K18la levels had poorer OS (p=0.028) and PFS (p<0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis of PFS showed histone H3K18la was an independent risk factor (p=0.001). In addition, we found that both histone H3K18la and Pan Kla in the cytoplasm were associated with platinum recurrence time (p=0.002/p=0.003). The results also indicated that the H3K18la level was related to a tumor stage (p=0.037). Furthermore, we explored the effects of lactylation on the metastasis of ovarian cancer. The results indicated a significant increase in migration in the promoter group compared to the negative control group and inhibitor group. In conclusion, high histone H3K18la level is associated with poor prognosis in EOC. Protein lactylation may have a significant impact on EOC and could potentially be used as a target for EOC therapy in the future.