Ezrin expression is related to poor prognosis in FIGO stage I endometrioid carcinomas.
As a cortical cytoskeletal protein, ezrin adapts the cytoplasmic tail of CD44 to the actin-based cytoskeleton and is functionally involved in migration and adhesion that are prerequisites for metastasis. To assess the importance of ezrin and its associated protein osteopontin for the progression of endometrioid carcinoma in FIGO stage I, we analyzed paraffin-embedded tissue from 164 patients by immunohistochemistry and correlated these data with clinicopathological parameters. Ezrin was expressed in normal proliferating endometrial glands, as was confirmed by quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry. In endometrioid carcinoma, enhanced ezrin expression correlated with a reduced overall survival in univariate analysis (P = 0.041). In contrast, no significant correlation was found for osteopontin. In multivariate survival analysis, among FIGO grade 3 and age, ezrin was still found to be an independent risk factor (relative risk 2.2, confidence interval 1.0-5.4, P = 0.047). Hence, elevated ezrin expression is a new independent prognostic marker in FIGO stage I endometrioid carcinoma, and thus provides further evidence for an important role of ezrin in tumor progression.
Köbel
Martin
M
Institute of Pathology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany. martin.koebel@medizin.uni-halle.de
Langhammer
Tina
T
Hüttelmaier
Stefan
S
Schmitt
Wolfgang D
WD
Kriese
Karen
K
Dittmer
Jürgen
J
Strauss
Hans-Georg
HG
Thomssen
Christoph
C
Hauptmann
Steffen
S
D000368:Aged; D018269:Carcinoma, Endometrioid / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D004717:Endometrium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D053495:Osteopontin; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012795:Sialoglycoproteins / Q000032:analysis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D000099149:Ezrin
D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D053495:Osteopontin; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012795:Sialoglycoproteins; D000099149:Ezrin; C506895:SPP1 protein, human