Prognostic significance of oestrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and beta (ERβ), progesterone receptor A (PR-A) and B (PR-B) in endometrial carcinomas

The expression of the classic steroid receptors ER) and PR-A has been correlated with stage, histological grade and survival in endometrial cancer. Endometrial cancer samples (293) were immunohistochemically analysed with monoclonal antibodies against the four steroid receptors. The loss of ER alpha, PR-A and PR-B resulted in a poorer survival in endometrial cancer patients, while ER beta expression did not demonstrate any correlations with several analysed clinicopathological characteristics and did not affect survival. Additionally, multivariate survival analysis demonstrated that PR-B was a significant independent prognostic factor for cause-specific survival. In contrast, although ER alpha and PR-A showed a significant association between different endometrial histological subtypes and grading, both receptors were not independent factors with survival in endometrial carcinoma patients. Therefore, the PR-B immunostaining might be used as an easy, simple and highly efficient marker to identify high-risk patients and may aid in the selection of patients for a more aggressive adjuvant therapy. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.