Abstract:
Objective To investigate the clinicopathological significances of CD133 and EpCAM expression in endometrial cancer.
Methods CD133 and EpCAM expression were assessed in 65 cases of paraffin-embedded endometrial cancer and 34 cases of normal endometrium tissue by immunohistochemistry. Medical records were reviewed and the clinicopathological characteristics or outcomes were evaluated.
Results Results: CD133 and EpCAM expression was significantly higher in endometrial cancer than in normal endometrium tissue (P = 0.02; P = 0.007). CD133 and EpCAM were positively correlated with the tumor size (P = 0.006; P = 0.007), histological grade (P = 0.008; P = 0.013), infiltrative depth (P < 0.001; P = 0.008), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.002; P = 0.004), and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage (P = 0.004; P = 0.010). CD133 and EpCAM expression in endometrial cancer had a positive correlation (r = 0.84, P < 0.01).
Conclusion The overexpression of CD133 and EpCAM is linked to tumor development and progression. Hence, the expression levels of these two proteins are useful indicators for the clinical assessment of tumor biological behavior in patients with endometrial cancer.