[Expression and significance of CD44v6, bcl-2, and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) in endometrial adenocarcinoma].
OBJECTIVE
The pathogenesis of endometrial carcinoma has not been clear yet. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of expression of CD44v6, bcl-2, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on oncogenesis and progression in endometrial carcinoma.


METHODS
The expression levels of CD44v6, bcl-2, and VEGF were determined using immunohistochemistry in 55 cases with endometrial adenocarcinoma, 10 cases each of normal proliferative endometrium, simple hyperplasia, and atypical hyperplasia, respectively.


RESULTS
(1)The expression of CD44v6 and VEGF increased gradually from normal proliferative endometrium to simple hyperplasia, atypical hyperplasia,and adenocarcinoma, which showed highly significant difference (P< 0.001, P< 0.001), whose ratios were 10%, 40%, 60%, 78.18% and 0%, 0%, 10%, 83.64%,respectively. While the expression of bcl-2 showed no significant difference among the above different tissues. (2)The CD44v6 expression in endometrial carcinoma was inversely associated with surgical stages and lymph node metastasis(P< 0.05, P< 0.01). The bcl-2 expression was found to be significantly related to histologic grades of the tumor (P< 0.05). The VEGF expression was significantly associated with surgical stages, myometrial invasion, and lymph node status. (3)There was statistically significant correlation between bcl-2 and CD44v6, bcl-2 and VEGF expression (P< 0.05, P< 0.05). (4)The univariate analysis revealed that the expression of CD44v6 and bcl-2 were significantly related to the prognosis of the patients (P< 0.01, P< 0.05). Cox proportional hazards model analysis showed that the prognosis was independently affected by age, surgical stage, and CD44v6 expression.


CONCLUSIONS
CD44v6, bcl-2, and VEGF play roles in oncogenesis and progression of endometrial adenocarcinoma. Detection of these gene proteins may be helpful for early diagnosis, prognosis prediction, and treatment of endometrial carcinoma.
Xiang
Da-Jun
DJ
Department of Oncology, Wuxi Hospital for Maternal and Child Health Care, Wuxi, Jiangsu, PR China. doctorxiangdj@hotmail.com
Xue
Wen-Qun
WQ
Feng
Yi-Zhong
YZ
Lu
Yi-Nong
YN
Chen
Ping-Qian
PQ
Wang
Jia-Yuan
JY
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors / Q000032:analysis*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000032:analysis*; D015996:Survival Rate; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000032:analysis*
C112697:CD44v6 antigen; D006023:Glycoproteins; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A