Expression of ER, PR, C-erbB-2 and Ki-67 in Endometrial Carcinoma and their Relationships with the Clinicopathological Features

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> To analyze the expression of estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR), C-erbB-2and Ki-67 in endometrial carcinoma (EC) and their relationships with the clinicopathological features. Materialsand <br/><b>Methods</b>: Sixty-seven EC samples, 53 normal endometrial samples and 53 atypical hyperplasia endometrialsamples were all selected in Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital from Jun., 2012 to Jun., 2014. The expression ofER, PR, C-erbB-2 and Ki-67 in EC tissue, normal endometrial tissue and atypical hyperplasia endometrial tissuewas respectively detected using immunohistochemical SP method. The relationships between the expression of ER,PR, C-erbB-2 and Ki-67 and the patients’ clinicopathological features as well as their correlations in EC tissuewere also analyzed. <br/><b>Results</b>: The positive expression rates of ER and PR in EC tissue were 44.8% and 41.8%,respectively, dramatically lower than in atypical hyperplasia endometrial tissue and normal endometrial tissue(P<0.01). The positive expression rates of C-erbB-2 and Ki-67 in EC tissue were 80.6% and 64.2%, respectively,significantly higher than in atypical hyperplasia endometrial tissue and normal endometrial tissue (P<0.01).In EC tissue, the expression of ER and PR was closely associated with the differentiated degrees and depth ofmyometrial invasion (P<0.05), while that of C-erbB-2 and Ki-67 with the clinical staging, differentiated degrees,depth of myometrial invasion and presence or absence of lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Spearman correlationanalysis further displayed that the expression of ER was positively correlated with PR (r=0.393, P=0.001), butnegatively with C-erbB-2 and Ki-67 (r=-0.469, P=0.000; r=-0.329, P=0.007); The expression of PR was negativelycorrelated with C-erbB-2 and Ki-67 (r=-0.273, P=0.025; r=-0.251, P=0.041), but that of C-erbB-2 positivelywith Ki-67 (r=0.342, P=0.005). <br/><b>Conclusions</b>: Abnormal expression of ER, PR, C-erbB2 and Ki-67 might playan important role in endometrial malignant transformation and cell differentiation, so their joint detection islikely to be a comprehensive combination of immune factors, which is of great importance for EC prognosis.