Expression of survivin, PTEN and p27 in normal, hyperplastic, and carcinomatous endometrium

Abstract

We aimed to investigate if expressions of survivin and p27 proteins are involved in the development of endometrioid carcinoma, along with whether there are any correlations between these proteins and loss of wild-type PTEN that is found in up to 80% of endometrial carcinomas. We also studied their correlations with classical prognostic factors and survival in endometrial carcinoma. To our knowledge, this is the first time survivin expression is investigated in endometrial hyperplasia along with endometrioid adenocarcinoma. For immunohistochemical analysis, 29 endometrioid adenocarcinoma, 38 endometrial hyperplasia, and 10 proliferative endometrium tissue samples were selected in the pathology archives. Staining of cells was scored as +2 if >50%, +1 if <50%, and negative if none were stained positive. Survivin expression increased from proliferative to hyperplasia to carcinoma cases. PTEN and p27 expressions decreased in hyperplasia and carcinoma cases with respect to proliferative endometrium. All these differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). PTEN positively correlated to p27 (P < 0.05); however, neither was correlated with survivin. None of these genes were correlated with classical prognostic factors such as grade and myometrial invasion in endometrioid adenocarcinoma. However, mean survival was statistically significantly higher in PTEN-positive cases (46.6 vs 16.4 months) (P < 0.05). Survivin overexpression might be one of the important mechanisms in the development of endometrioid adenocarcinoma along with lost or decreased activity of PTEN and p27. However, survivin seems to exert its role in ways different from those of PTEN or p27 in the development of endometrioid adenocarcinoma. These findings on the role of survivin in endometrioid adenocarcinoma should be confirmed and the pathways through which survivin acts in endometrioid adenocarcinoma studied further with a larger sample size.