Estrogen receptor-beta expression in human laryngeal carcinoma: correlation with the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition specific biomarkers.
Laryngeal carcinoma is a malignancy of the respiratory tract with a significantly higher male to female ratio, suggesting involvement of gender-depended factors in the pathogenesis. Estrogen influences the pathological processes of hormone-dependent cancers, such as breast, prostate and ovarian cancers, through its receptors, estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-alpha) and -beta (ER-beta). While ER-alpha promotes cell proliferation, recent studies indicate that ER-beta is protective against carcinoma progression into an invasive state. However, it is unclear whether ER-beta plays a role in laryngeal cancer. In the present study we examined the expression of ER-beta in 80 invasive human squamous laryngeal carcinomas by immunohistochemistry and correlated ER-beta expression with markers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). ER-beta was expressed in 83% of tumour specimens where it was localized in the nuclei of tumour cells. The expression of ER-beta correlated positively with the maintenance of E-cadherin and beta-catenin at cell junctions and negatively with the loss of E-cadherin, nuclear translocation of beta-catenin and increased TNM stage. We concluded that estrogen receptor-beta expression is documented in laryngeal cancer indicating a possible role in the pathogenesis of this malignancy. It is suggested that ER-beta could protect tumour cells from acquiring aggressive EMT features such as E-cadherin downregulation and nuclear beta-catenin activation.
Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Patras, Patras, Greece; Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. goulioum@upatras.gr
Anastasios K
AK
Goulioumis
Jonas
J
Fuxe
John
J
Varakis
Maria
M
Repanti
Panos
P
Goumas
Helen
H
Papadaki
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000556:secondary; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D047629:Estrogen Receptor beta / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D014746:Vimentin / Q000378:metabolism; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000378:metabolism*
C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; D015820:Cadherins; D047629:Estrogen Receptor beta; D014746:Vimentin; D051176:beta Catenin