Relationship of nonstaging pathological risk factors to lymph node metastasis and recurrence in clinical stage I endometrial carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
To determine if DNA ploidy, hormone receptors, vascular space invasion (VSI), perivascular lymphocytes (PVL), and the oncogenes HER-2/neu, p53, and bcl-2 are independent prognostic indicators for lymph node metastasis and cancer recurrence in clinical stage I endometrial carcinoma.


METHODS
Among 349 patients with clinical stage I endometrial cancer 31 patients either had lymph node metastases when surgically staged or developed recurrent cancer. Using a case-control matched-pair technique, controls were selected for each of 24 cases by matching for age, histological grade, depth of myometrial invasion, performance of node dissection, and use of adjuvant radiation therapy. In a blinded fashion a pathologist reviewed all histopathology, and all molecular tests were performed on paraffin-embedded tissue samples. Statistical analysis was performed by chi2 and McNemar's tests.


RESULTS
VSI was the only histopathological factor significantly related to positive lymph nodes and cancer recurrence (P = 0.01), independent of grade and myometrial invasion. Aneuploidy, oncogene expression (p53, HER-2/neu, bcl-2), and hormone receptors were not significantly related to lymph node metastasis and cancer recurrence.


CONCLUSIONS
The presence of vascular space invasion is a pathological factor independently associated with a risk of nodal metastasis and cancer recurrence in clinical stage I endometrial cancer. DNA ploidy, oncogene expression, and hormone receptor status do not have more predictive value than standard staging pathological criteria.
Bell
J G
JG
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Riverside Methodist Hospitals, Columbus, Ohio 43214, USA.
Minnick
A
A
Reid
G C
GC
Judis
J
J
Brownell
M
M
D000368:Aged; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D019254:Genes, bcl-2; D018734:Genes, erbB-2; D016158:Genes, p53; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011003:Ploidies; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000032:analysis; D012307:Risk Factors
D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface