PubMed · 2009 · 33 citations · 0 references
MedicineOncologyPathologyGene ExpressionMolecular OncologyOncogenesCancer Molecular PathologyEndometrial CancerTumor MarkersDiagnostic ImmunohistochemistryDisease Relapse PredictionFigo StagingImmunohistochemical BiomarkersImmunohistochemical DetectionImmunohistochemical MarkersImmunohistochemical StainingImmunohistochemistry Assays
BACKGROUND: The Wilms' tumor gene WT1 is overexpressed in various kinds of solid tumors. However, it remains unclear whether WT1 plays a pathophysiological role in endometrial cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A series of 70 endometrial cancer patients who had undergone a curative resection was studied to determine the correlation between WT1 expression, clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis. Tissue specimens were evaluated for WT1 expression by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The expression of WT1 was strong in 31 patients (44%) and weak in 39 patients (56%). WT1 overexpression was associated with advanced FIGO stage (p=0.0266), myometrial invasion (p=0.0477) and high-grade histological differentiation (p=0.0049). The expression level of WT1 was found to be a significant predictor of disease relapse in univariate analysis (p=0.0233), but not in multivariate analysis (p=0.4757). CONCLUSION: These results suggested that tumor-produced WT1 provided additional prognostic information in endometrial cancer patients.