Clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical features and microsatellite status of endometrial cancer of the uterine isthmus

Int J Gynecol Pathol. 2001 Oct;20(4):368-73. doi: 10.1097/00004347-200110000-00009.

Abstract

To clarify the clinicopathologic, molecular, and immunohistochemical characteristics of uterine isthmic endometrial cancer (UIE), we examined 13 cases of UIE and compared them with 33 cases of endometrial cancer of the uterine corpus (UCE) with respect to clinicopathologic factors, the expression of p53, the estrogen receptor (ER) and the progesterone receptor (PR) status, DNA ploidy, and microsatellite instability (MSI). Five (38.4%) of the UIE patients had stage I, two (15.4%) had stage II, and six (46.2%) had stage III disease (FIGO 1988). Myometrial invasion was confirmed in 92.3% of the UIE patients, and these patients had a higher (p < 0.05) frequency of > 50% myometrial invasion (46.2%) than the patients with UCE (15.2%). Moreover, the UIE patients had a higher frequency of positive peritoneal cytology (p < 0.05) and pelvic lymph node metastases (p < 0.05). No UIE tumors exhibited MSI, and the tumors in these patients had a higher expression of p53 (p < 0.01), a lower expression of ER (p < 0.05) and PR (p < 0.05), and a higher frequency of DNA aneuploidy (p < 0.01) than the UCE tumors. These findings suggest that the UIE is clearly different from UCE in the clinicopathologic, immunohistochemical features, and microsatellite status.

MeSH terms

  • Aneuploidy
  • DNA, Neoplasm / analysis
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / chemistry
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Female
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Lymphatic Metastasis
  • Menopause
  • Microsatellite Repeats*
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Ploidies
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Receptors, Estrogen / analysis
  • Receptors, Progesterone / analysis
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / analysis
  • Uterus / pathology*

Substances

  • DNA, Neoplasm
  • Receptors, Estrogen
  • Receptors, Progesterone
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53