Immunohistochemical Study of ER, PR, Ki67 and p53 in Endometrial Hyperplasias and Endometrial Carcinomas.

INTRODUCTION: Endometrial carcinoma is the second most common gynecologic malignancy in the developing countries. Endometrial Hyperplasia (EH) is a precursor to Endometrioid Adenocarcinoma (EMAC). A 23% of Atypical Hyperplasias (AEH) progress to EMAC.

AIM: This study was undertaken to analyse ER, PR, p53 and Ki67 in EH and endometrial carcinomas and attempt correlation with clinical and histopathological findings.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was conducted over a period of seven years. A manual tissue array technique was employed for cases subjected to IHC. Analysis of the expression of IHC markers (ER, PR, p53, Ki67) in EH and endometrial carcinoma was attempted. Results were subjected to statistical analysis. The results were considered to be significant when the p-value <0.05.

RESULTS: A total of 85 cases of EH and 28 cases of endometrial carcinoma were included in the study. EH (75.22%) was more common than endometrial carcinoma (24.78%). Among 28 cases of endometrial carcinomas, EMAC was most common (78.57%) followed by Clear Cell Carcinoma (CCC) (14.28%), and Uterine Serous Carcinoma (USC) (7.14%). ER and PR expression decreased as lesion progressed from EH to EMAC. ER and PR expression was negative in USC and CCC. The p53 expression and mean Ki67 labelling index increased as the severity of lesion increased from EH to endometrial carcinoma.

CONCLUSION: The ER, PR, p53, Ki67 IHC markers may be included in every case of endometrial carcinoma to understand the tumour biological behavior which in turn could help individual treatment strategies.