OBJECTIVETo assess the correlation between expression of proliferation antigen Ki-67, early apoptotic protein M30 (M30CytoDEATH, CK18) and biologic characteristics in endometrial carcinoma.

METHODSSP immunohistochemical technique was used to detect the expression of Ki-67 and M30 in 79 cases of endometrial carcinoma respectively.

RESULTSThe mean Ki-67 indices varied with histological grading and clinical stage of the tumor, being 20.48 +/- 14.86 in grade 1, 24.12 +/- 14.42 in grade 2 and 38.84 +/- 11.88 in grade 3; 20.65 +/- 13.56 in stage I; 26.92 +/- 14.71 in stage II; and: 35.14 +/- 14.70 in stage III. The mean M30 indices varied with the grading and stage of the tumor, being 1.03 +/- 1.42 in grade 1, 1.03 +/- 1.64 in grade 2 and 1.94 +/- 1.20 in grade 3; 0.30 +/- 0.58 in stage I; 1.66 +/- 1.74 in stage II; and 2.07 +/- 1.62 in stage III.

CONCLUSIONSKi-67 and M30 indexes are significantly correlated with biologic behavior and prognosis in endometrial carcinoma. There is a positive relationship between Ki-67 and M30 indexes.

Apoptosis ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; chemistry ; mortality ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Keratins ; analysis ; Ki-67 Antigen ; analysis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis

Loss of the cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin is suggested to promote tumor invasion and distant metastasis in tumor development. Recently, it has been proposed that E-cadherin function requires its linkage to the cytoskeleton through catenins. We evaluated the expression of E-cadherin and alpha-, beta-, gamma-catenins in tissues of human endometrial carcinoma, analyzed the patterns of cell adhesion molecules' expression in endometrial carcinoma and investigated the relationship between the statuses of cell adhesion molecules and various clinicopathological factors. This study investigated the immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin and alpha-, beta-, gamma-catenins in 33 paraffin embedded formalin fixed tissues of endometrial carcinomas. Aberrant E-cadherin, and alpha-, beta-, gamma-catenin expression was observed in 33.3 (11 of 33), 27.3 (9 of 33), 18.2 (6 of 33), and 51.5 (17 of 33) % of the specimens, respectively. Statistically significant correlation was found between aberrant expression of E-cadherin and lymph node metastasis and cell types other than endometrioid adenocarcinoma. Aberrant pattern of gamma-catenin expression was also correlated with deep myometrial invasion. However, alpha-, and beta-catenin expression was not correlated with any clinicopathological parameters. Using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank comparison test, abnormal expression of E-cadherin was correlated closely with poor survival (p < 0.05), but cases with loss of both E-cadherin and catenin expression predicted even poorer survival than cases with only one or no aberrant expression in E-cadherin and catenins. We revealed aberrant expression of these cell adhesion molecules among patients with endometrial carcinoma. Aberrant expression of E-cadherin was correlated with lymph node metastasis and cell types other than endometrioid adenocarcinoma, while aberrant expression of gamma-catenin was related with deep myometrial invasion. The expression of E-cadherin might be a possible prognostic factor for endometrial cancer while the expression of catenins may help predict patient's survival.
Adult ; Aged ; Cadherins/*analysis ; Cytoskeletal Proteins/*analysis ; Endometrial Neoplasms/*chemistry/mortality ; Female ; Human ; Immunohistochemistry ; Middle Age ; Trans-Activators/*analysis