Survival of women with ovarian carcinomas and borderline tumors is not affected by estrogen and progesterone receptor status

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine the patterns of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) expression in borderline ovarian tumors (BOTs) and ovarian carcinomas. We also assessed the disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in women with ovarian carcinoma, in relation to ER and/or PR expression.MethodsWe examined ER/PR expression in 38 BOTs and 172 ovarian carcinomas removed from patients treated at the State University of Campinas-UNICAMP (Brazil), from 1993 to 2008 and followed for up to 60 months using tissue microarray-based immunohistochemistry.ResultsTwenty-eight (73.7%) mucinous and 10 (26.3%) serous BOTs were included. Ovarian carcinomas consisted mainly of 79 (46.0%) serous, 44 (25.5%) mucinous, 17 (9.8%) endometrioid, 10 (5.8%) clear-cell types. There was no significant difference of the ER/PR expression between BOT and ovarian carcinoma (p=0.55 for ER alone, 0.90 for PR alone, and 0.12 for combined expression). The level of ER/PR expression in BOTs was significantly higher in serous than in mucinous tumors (p<0.01). In carcinomas, ER/PR was higher in serous tumors than in mucinous (p<0.01) and clear cell tumors (p=0.02), and higher in endometrioid tumors than in mucinous tumors (p<0.01). DFS was affected neither by the clinical characteristics nor by combined steroid receptor status. OS was found to be significantly worse (p<0.01) only in women with stages II-IV tumors and those with residual disease after surgery (p<0.01).ConclusionOverall, serous and endometrioid tumors were predominantly ER/PR positive, whereas mucinous and clear-cell tumors were preponderantly ER/PR negative. DFS and OS were not affected by ER/PR expression.

Risk for borderline ovarian tumours after exposure to fertility drugs: results of a population-based cohort study

“…Other studies have shown that hormone therapy regimens containing both progestin (synthetic compounds with similar modes of action as progesterone) and estrogen increase the risks for both ovarian cancer (Beral et al, 2007) and borderline ovarian tumours (Morch et al, 2012) to a greater extent than regimes with estrogen only. The results of a recent study showed significantly greater expression of progesterone receptors in serous than in mucinous borderline ovarian tumours, which might explain why we observed an increased risk primarily for serous tumours (Sallum et al, 2013). Additional large epidemiological studies with appropriate reference groups are clearly needed to confirm or reject our findings on progesterone and risk for serous borderline ovarian tumours.…”

Controversies in borderline ovarian tumors

“…However, adverse effects or toxicity still occurs. Although ≥90% of serous BOTs are estrogen receptor-positive [ 52 53 ], there are no detailed studies, only case reports, testing the effect of tamoxifen, leuprolide, or anastrozole on these tumors [ 54 ].…”

Detection and analysis of multiple biomarkers in ovarian cancer: clinical significance in diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis evaluation

“…The ovaries are the organs responsible for producing sex hormones and the target organs of sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone, and their receptors. How this affects the occurrence and development of ovarian cancer is one of the hotspots of current research (26). Domestic and international reports on the relationship between ER, PR, and clinicopathological features of ovarian cancer are inconsistent.…”