Endometrial carcinoma shows various histological types that differ in
their clinical presentation and prognosis, Comparative genomic hybridi
zation was used to detect gains and losses of DNA sequences along all
chromosome arms in 24 uterine serous and 24 uterine endometrioid carci
nomas. In serous carcinomas, extensive genetic aberrations were detect
ed in 17 of the 24 specimens, with a mean of 5.7 changes per tumor, Th
e most frequent gains occurred at 3q (50%), 8q (33%), 5p (29%), 6p (29
%), and 1q (29%), and the most common losses were located at 4q (17%),
15q (17%), and 18q (17%), Tumors exhibiting DNA copy number changes w
ere associated with shorter overall survival. In endometrioid carcinom
as, genetic aberrations were less frequent and simpler than in serous
carcinomas, DNA sequence copy number changes were observed in 12 of th
e 24 cases, with a mean of 1.5 changes per tumor, The most frequent ab
errations were gains at lq (29%), 2q (13%), and 8q (13%). Losses were
rarely observed. The diverging pattern of genetic changes observed in
uterine serous and endometrioid carcinomas suggests different pathways
of carcinogenesis in these tumor types.