WT1, Bcl-2, Ki-67 and Her2/Neu as diagnostic and prognostic immuno markers in ovarian serous and endometrioid carcinoma
Dr. Bijan Basak, Dr. Santosh Kumar Mondal, Dr. Sharmistha Debnath and Dr. Priyaranjan Chattopadhyay
Background: Ovarian cancer is the fifth common cause of death due to cancer in women. It constitutes 3% of all cancers in females and 15-20% of genital malignancies. Most of the ovarian cancers are serous type followed by endometrioid type. Sometimes glands of these two carcinomas are indistinguishable histologically. It also becomes difficult to differentiate these two types when they are poorly differentiated.
Aims: The aim of this study was to find out differences in immuno-markers expressions between serous and endometrioid carcinomas and association of their staining patterns with other clinico-pathological prognostic factors.
Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemical staining for WT1, Bcl2, Ki67 (MIB1) and Her2/Neu were done in paraffin embedded tissues of histologically diagnosed total 38 cases (21 serous and 17 endometrioid) of ovarian carcinomas and staining patterns were correlated with other clinico-pathological prognostic factors.
Results: Out of these 38 cases, 24 cases were in stage I/II (early stage) and 14 cases stage III/IV (advance stage). On the other hand, 16 cases were low grade, 12 cases intermediate grade and 10 cases high grade. Twenty out of 21 serous carcinomas were positive for WT1, whereas most of the endometrioid carcinomas were negative. Ki67 labeling index and Her2/Neu were higher in both higher grade and stages. On the contrary, intensity of Bcl2 staining was lower in higher grades and stages lesions.
Conclusions: Use of WT1 may be useful in resolving diagnostic dilemma between serous and endometrioid carcinoma, especially in difficult cases. Ki67, Bcl2 and Her2/Neu may be used as prognostic markers.
