Prognostic Value of HER2 and Progesterone Receptor Expression in Endometrial Carcinoma with Positive Peritoneal Washing

Background: Although the majority of endometrial cancer (EC) patients can be cured by surgery, unexpected recurrent disease may also occur in early stage patients. In the present study, whether or not the analysis of multiple bio- pathological parameters might lead to more accurate predictions of the clinical outcome of EC patients with long- term follow-up (FU) was investigated. Patients and Methods: Estrogen and progesterone receptor (ER and PgR) positivity and HER2 overexpression by immunohistochemistry were evaluated. The peritoneal washings (PWs) were analyzed by cytology and immunocytochemistry employing AR-3 and B72.3 monoclonal antibodies. Results: The patients with positive PW and HER2 positive tumors showed shorter overall survival compared to those bearing HER2 negative tumors (p=0.004). HER2 overexpression also influenced the patient outcome in the group with tumors lacking PgR (p=0.004). At multivariate analysis PgR and HER2 overexpression emerged as independent prognostic factors. Conclusion: The combined analysis of these biopathological markers could provide useful information for the selection of patients to be enrolled in innovative therapeutic strategies. Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is the most common invasive malignant tumor of the female genital tract and its occurrence has risen worldwide. Although as many as 70% of these patients can be cured by surgery, often in combination with radiotherapy, unexpected recurrent disease may also occur in patients with EC limited to the uterus (1). There are many pathological features which appear to correlate with prognosis. These include cervical extension, depth of myometrial invasion, histotype and differentiation grade and also malignant peritoneal microdissemination, which is recognised as an adverse prognostic factor mainly in those patients with no extensive myometrial invasion or macroscopic omental and/or peritoneal implants (2). In this context, the use of a selected panel of monoclonal antibodies