Work

Expression of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor in endometrial cancer and their correlations with clinicopathological features

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Objective: To investigate the expression levels of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) in endometrial carcinoma (EC) and their correlations with standardized clinicopathological parameters in a single-center surgical cohort. Methods: pairwise tests and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were applied for ordinal Allred score data. Exact P values, test statistics and degrees of freedom were reported for all analyses. Results: The overall cohort included 71 endometrioid carcinoma (EC) and 7 non-endometrioid carcinoma (NEC) cases. ER and PR positive rates were significantly higher in endometrioid lesions (97.2% and 94.4%) than non-endometrioid subtypes (57.1% for both, P = 0.018/P = 0.018). Continuous Allred scores of ER and PR declined significantly with worsening tumor differentiation (all adjusted P<0.05). For FIGO staging, significantly reduced ER and PR Allred scores were observed in Stage II compared with Stage I. The single Stage-III case was reported descriptively and was not included in formal statistical testing. Patients with lymph node metastasis exhibited lower PR Allred scores (P = 0.021), while ER expression showed no statistically significant difference (P = 0.076). No significant associations were found between ER/PR scores and depth of myometrial invasion or lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) (all P>0.05). Conclusion: Reduced ER and PR expression correlates with poorer tumor differentiation and advanced FIGO stage in endometrioid endometrial carcinoma; PR loss is independently associated with lymph node metastasis. This study only identifies crude cross-sectional correlations without survival or multivariable adjustment data, so ER/PR may merely serve as auxiliary morphological markers reflecting tumor aggressive potential, rather than standalone indicators for prognosis or individualized hormone therapy guidance.

Source: Frontiers in Oncology

DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2026.1939245

Authors: En Ping Li, Yu Hong, Jie Zhen Wei, Chun Ke Li, Hai Qi Liang

Language: English

Topic: Endometrial and Cervical Cancer Treatments

Subfield: Obstetrics and Gynecology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,801

Funder: Fundo para o Desenvolvimento das Ciências e da Tecnologia