Relationship between ERK1/2 signal transduction pathway and estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor in endometrial carcinoma

Objective To detect the expression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2(ERK1/2)in endometrial carcinoma,and investigate its relationship with the expression of estrogen receptor(ER)and progesterone receptor(PR).Methods The expression of ERK1/2,ER and PR in 30 endometrial carcinoma specimens was detected by immunohistochemical method(SP method).With the same method,the expression of ERK1/2 was detected in 20 normal endometria specimens and 13 hyperplastic endometria specimens.Semi-quantitative analysis of specimen staining was conducted.Results There was no significant difference in the expression of ERK1/2 among normal endometria,hyperplastic endometria,and endometrial carcinoma(P0.05).There were significant differences in the expression of phosphorylated ERK1/2(p-ERK1/2)between ER positive endometrial carcinoma(76.5%)and ER negative one(30.8%)(P0.05).The higher expression of p-ERK1/2 was closely related to ER expression(r=0.457,P0.05),while not related to the expression of PR(P0.05).Conclusion The progression from normal to malignant endometrium is not related to the activation of ERK1/2.The level of activated ERK1/2 is positively correlated with the expression of ER in endometrial carcinoma.ER may regulate the growth of endometrial carcinoma cells via ERK1/2 signal transduction pathway.