Objective. The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27 has been shown to medi
ate cell growth arrest in response to various environmental stimuli. p27 pr
otein levels have shown prognostic value in several different types of canc
er. We examined the prognostic value of p27 protein expression in endometri
al cancer, the most common gynecologic malignancy.
Methods. A total of 95 paraffin-embedded tumor blocks were obtained and sta
ined via immunohistochemical techniques with a monoclonal antibody against
p27. Ten high-power fields were evaluated per slide with at least 1000 cell
s per slide and two slides per specimen evaluated by two reviewers for nucl
ear and cytoplasmic staining. The specimens were evaluated for associations
with age, stage, grade, and histology. Statistical analysis was performed
using the Student t test, chi (2) Kaplan-Meier, and likelihood ratios to as
sess the data and to generate P values.
Results. A total of 91 patients met inclusion criteria for statistical anal
ysis. Fifty-three patients were stage I, 13 stage II, 14 stage III and 11 s
tage IV with a positive stain (> 50% of cells) for p27 obtained in 32.1, 23
.1, 35.7, and 36.4%, respectively (Student t test P = 0.77). Survival data
were available on 24 advanced stage patients. 027 protein immunostaining sh
owed no association with patient survival. We also found no association of
p27 staining with age or histology. Notably, we found a trend in increasing
staining: with increase in grade, particularly with stage I patients. Also
, there was an association of the nuclear and cytoplasmic staining and stag
e (P = 0.05), but it had no correlation with patient survival.
Conclusion. Our study showed decreased p27 protein staining in endometrial
cancers compared to normal endometrial cells. We found that p27 protein sta
ining shows no association with stage, age, or histology and is not prognos
tic for survival in advanced endometrial cancers. However, there may be a t
rend associated with increased p27 protein staining with advanced grades of
tumors. (C) 2001 Academic Press.