Abstract
Inhibins are dimeric glycoproteins, composed of an alpha-subunit (inhibin-α) and one
of two possible beta-subunits (βA or βB), with substantial roles in human reproduction
and in endocrine-responsive tumours. The aims of this study were to determine the
distribution of inhibin-α, -βA and -βB subunits in malignant human endometrial tissue
and the assessment of an association with specific clinicopathologic tumour features
and clinical outcome. A series of 302 endometrial cancer tissue samples were immunohistochemically
analysed with monoclonal antibodies against inhibin subunits. The inhibin-α subunit
showed a significant association with histological grading, surgical staging, lymph
node status and diabetes in patients with endometrial cancer. Interestingly, loss
of inhibin-α expression resulted in a poorer survival of endometrial cancer patients.
Additionally, survival analysis demonstrated that inhibin-α immunoreactivity was an
independent prognostic factor for progression-free survival, cause-specific survival
as well as for overall survival. In contrast, although inhibin-βA- and -βB subunits
showed a significant association between endometrial histological subtypes and histological
grading, both subunits were not found to be associated with survival in endometrial
cancer patients. Therefore, inhibin-α immunostaining might be used as a simple and
efficient marker to identify high-risk patients leading to the selection of patients
for an aggressive adjuvant therapy.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 24, 2009
Accepted:
January 6,
2009
Received in revised form:
December 19,
2008
Received:
January 31,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 Elsevier Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
