Abstract
Prognostic factors are of great interest in patients with endometrial cancer. One potential factor could be the protein MSX1, a transcription repressor, that has an inhibitory effect on the cell cycle. For this study, endometrioid endometrial carcinomas (n = 53), clear cell endometrial carcinomas (n = 6), endometrioid ovarian carcinomas (n = 19), and clear cell ovarian carcinomas (n = 11) were immunochemically stained for the protein MSX1 and evaluated using the immunoreactive score (IRS). A significant stronger expression of MSX1 was found in endometrioid endometrial carcinomas (p < 0.001), in grading 2 (moderate differentiation) (p = 0.001), and in tumor material of patients with no involvement of lymph nodes (p = 0.031). Correlations were found between MSX1 expression and the expression of β-Catenin, p21, p53, and the steroid receptors ERα, ERβ, PRα, and PRβ. A significant (p = 0.023) better survival for patients with an MSX1 expression in more than 10% of the tumor cells was observed for endometrioid endometrial carcinomas (21.3 years median survival (MSX1-positive) versus 17.3 years (MSX1-negative)). Although there is evidence that MSX1 expression correlates with improved long-term survival, further studies are necessary to evaluate if MSX1 can be used as a prognostic marker.
Highlights
Worldwide, endometrial cancer (EC) has become the 7th most common malignancy within the female population due to its incidence of 142,000 new cases per year [1]
A significant (p = 0.023) better survival for patients with an MSX1 expression in more than 10% of the tumor cells was observed for endometrioid endometrial carcinomas (21.3 years median survival (MSX1-positive) versus 17.3 years (MSX1-negative))
There is evidence that MSX1 expression correlates with improved long-term survival, further studies are necessary to evaluate if MSX1 can be used as a prognostic marker
Summary
Endometrial cancer (EC) has become the 7th most common malignancy within the female population due to its incidence of 142,000 new cases per year [1]. Until the age of 84, morbidity is continuously rising throughout the population [2]. This does not mean that only elderly women are affected. A total of 15% of ECs are diagnosed in premenopausal women who are aged 45 or younger and 4% in women who are even younger than 40 [3,4]. This leaves us with a group of EC patients who might still want to give birth and, would benefit from a fertility-preserving therapy
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