title: Expression of ER-α36, a novel variant of estrogen receptor in endometrial carcinoma and its clinical significance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Estrogen receptor-α36 (ER-α36), a newly identified variant of ER-α, is predominantly membrane-based and mainly mediates nongenomic estrogen signaling. In this study, we investigated the expression of ER-α36 in human endometrial carcinoma tissues to understand the relationship between its expression and clinicopathological characteristics.
  
  
  METHODS
  ER-α36 expression was assessed by immunostaining in 73 endometrial carcinomas, 20 normal endometrial tissues, and 9 with atypical endometrial hyperplasia. Correlations between ER-α36 protein expression and clinicopathological characteristics were investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The expression of ER-α36 in endometrial carcinoma tissues was significantly lower than in normal endometrial tissues and atypical hyperplasia (p < 0.01). ER-α36-negative tissues were significantly more likely than ER-α36-positive tumors to have tumor involvement of the cervix (p < 0.05). The disease-free survival rate of patients with ER-α36 expression was poorer than that of those who were negative for ER-α36 expression (p < 0.01). There was no significant relationship between ER-α36 expression and patient age, surgical staging, histological differentiation, myometrial invasion, lymph node metastasis, and pathological types (p > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ER-α36 may be an important biomarker for diagnosis, prognostication, and treatment choice in endometrial carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Lifang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jianliu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Danhua
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C506487:ESR1 protein, human; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins