Association of Replication Error Positive Phenotype with Lymphocyte Infiltration in Endometrial Cancers

• Published in: Cancer science Vol. 89; no. 9; pp. 895 - 902
• Main Authors: Kihana, Toshimasa, Fujioka, Toru, Hamada, Katsuyuki, Kito, Katsumi, Takahashi, Akira, Tsukayama, Choutatsu, Ito, Masaharu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.1998; Japanese Cancer Association; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: Adenocarcinoma - genetics; Adenocarcinoma - pathology; Adenosquamous; Biological and medical sciences; Carcinoma; Carcinoma, Adenosquamous - genetics; Carcinoma, Adenosquamous - pathology; Carcinoma, Papillary - genetics; Carcinoma, Papillary - pathology; Clinicopathological characteristics; Colorectal carcinoma; DNA Replication; Endometrial cancer; Endometrial Hyperplasia - genetics; Endometrial Hyperplasia - pathology; Endometrial Neoplasms - genetics; Endometrial Neoplasms - pathology; Endometrium; Female; Female genital diseases; Frameshift Mutation; Genotype & phenotype; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Hyperplasia; Infiltration; key words; Lymph nodes; Lymphocyte accumulation; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes - pathology; Medical sciences; Metastases; Microsatellite instability; Microsatellite Repeats; Phenotype; Phenotypes; Polymerase chain reaction; Polyposis; Replication; Replication error; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Tumors; Human; Correlation; Clinical form; Malignant tumor; Female genital diseases; Polymerase chain reaction; Pathology; Phenotype; Microsatellite DNA; Uterine diseases; Female; Instability; Infiltration; Lymphocyte; Endometrium
• ISSN: 0910-5050; 1347-9032; 1349-7006; 1876-4673
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1349-7006.1998.tb00646.x

Microsatellite instability (MI) has been detected in certain sporadic cancers as well as in hereditary non‐polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC). In order to determine the precise clinicopathological characteristics of MI in endometrial cancer, we examined 90 sporadic endometrial cancers (83 endometrioid adenocarcinomas, 3 adenosquamous carcinomas, 3 papillary serous carcinomas, and 1 clear cell carcinoma) and eight lesions of endometrial hyperplasia for replication error (RER) using polymerase chain reaction amplification of CA repeated microsatellite sequences at 15 loci. RER was observed in 23 (28%) of the 83 endometrioid adenocarcinomas at at least one locus and in 19 (23%) at two or more loci (RER+ phenotype) in the seven most commonly observed loci, but not in carcinomas of other histological types or in endometrial hyperplasia. Lymphocyte infiltration around carcinoma cells, which is one of the histological features seen in tumors from HNPCC, was severer in RER+ phenotype tumors (79%, 11/14) than in the RER– tumors (25%, 11/44) (marked/moderate infiltration versus slight, P<0.001, χ2 test), when 58 tumors with muscular invasion were examined. The RER+ phenotype was associated with a higher parity and gravidity (P<0.05, Wilcoxon test). However, RER+ phenotype was not associated with tumor stage, histological grade, muscular invasion, lymph node metastasis or patient survival. In conclusion, MI occurs in a subset of endometrial cancers, which often show marked infiltration of lymphocytes around the tumor.