Nuclear Expression of β-Catenin Is Associated with Improved Outcomes in Endometrial Cancer
Valeria Masciullo,
Tommaso Susini,
Giacomo Corrado,
Marina Stepanova,
Alessandro Baroni,
Irene Renda,
Francesca Castiglione,
Corrado Minimo,
Alfonso Bellacosa,
Benito Chiofalo,
Enrico Vizza,
Giovanni Scambia
Affiliations
Valeria Masciullo
Division of Gynecologic Surgery, Department of Woman, Child and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli—IRCCS, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy
Tommaso Susini
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, Italy
Giacomo Corrado
Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Woman, Child and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli—IRCCS, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy
Marina Stepanova
Cancer Signaling and Epigenetics Program and Cancer Epigenetics Institute, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA
Alessandro Baroni
Division of Gynecologic Surgery, Department of Woman, Child and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli—IRCCS, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy
Irene Renda
Department of Pathology, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, Italy
Francesca Castiglione
Department of Pathology, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, Italy
Corrado Minimo
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA
Alfonso Bellacosa
Cancer Signaling and Epigenetics Program and Cancer Epigenetics Institute, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA
Benito Chiofalo
Gynecologic Oncology Unit, Department of Experimental Clinical Oncology, IRCCS Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, 00128 Rome, Italy
Enrico Vizza
Gynecologic Oncology Unit, Department of Experimental Clinical Oncology, IRCCS Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, 00128 Rome, Italy
Giovanni Scambia
Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Woman, Child and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli—IRCCS, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy
Beta-catenin is involved in intercellular adhesion and participates in the Wnt signaling pathway. This study evaluated the expression pattern and prognostic value of β-catenin in a series of endometrial carcinoma patients. Immunohistochemical analyses were used to assess the expression and subcellular localization of β-catenin from tissue sections of 74 patients with endometrial carcinoma. No correlation was found between beta-catenin expression and clinicopathological parameters. Patients expressing nuclear β-catenin (n = 13; 16%) showed a more favorable prognosis than patients expressing membranous β-catenin; the 5-year disease-related survival rate was 100% for cases expressing nuclear β-catenin, compared with 73.8% (SE 0.08) of cases expressing membranous β-catenin (p = 0.04). Although statistical significance was not reached (p = 0.15), cases expressing nuclear β-catenin showed a 5-year disease-free survival rate of 90.9% (SE 0.08) compared with 67.4% (SE 0.08) of cases expressing membranous β-catenin. Univariate Cox analysis revealed that membranous β-catenin expression was found to be associated with a relative risk of death of 33.9 (p = 0.04). The stage of disease (p = 0.0006), histology (p = 0.003), and grading (p = 0.008) were also significantly correlated with disease-free survival according to univariate Cox analyses. Determining β-catenin expression and localization patterns may predict survival in patients with endometrial cancer and, therefore, should be considered a potential prognostic marker of disease.
