title: Clinicopathological significance of podocalyxin and phosphorylated ezrin in uterine endometrioid adenocarcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Podocalyxin is an anti-adhesive glycoprotein that has been associated with highly aggressive forms of cancers. Podocalyxin increases the migration and invasive properties of cancer cells through its interaction with ezrin, which undergoes an increase in phosphorylation through podocalyxin.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study the roles of podocalyxin and phosphorylated ezrin (pEzrin) in uterine endometrioid adenocarcinoma (UEA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Using immunohistochemisty the authors investigated the expression of podocalyxin and pEzrin along with some well-known markers of tumour aggressiveness including p53, oestrogen receptor and Ki-67 in UEA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Podocalyxin and pEzrin expression levels were positive in 36.1% (22 of 61 patients) and 50.8% (31 of 61 patients) of UEA cases, respectively. Further, podocalyxin expression was correlated with tumour grade (p=0.0001), FIGO stage (p=0.0062), p53 expression (p=0.0050) and Ki-67 index (p=0.0069). In addition, pEzrin expression was associated with FIGO stage (p=0.0231), p53 expression (p<0.0001) and Ki-67 index (p=0.0010). The expression of podocalyxin was also correlated with that of pEzrin (p=0.0102).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that overexpression of podocalyxin and pEzrin may indicate a more aggressive phenotype; thus, evaluation of these proteins may be useful in prediction of disease progression in UEA cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan.
authors.forename: Hironao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yasuoka
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsujimoto
authors.forename: Michiya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inagaki
authors.forename: Rieko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kodama
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwahashi
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mabuchi
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ino
authors.forename: Tokio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sanke
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D018269:Carcinoma, Endometrioid / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011379:Prognosis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D012795:Sialoglycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000099149:Ezrin
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D012795:Sialoglycoproteins; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D000099149:Ezrin; C001643:podocalyxin