Tissue expression of human epididymal secretory protein 4 may be useful in the differential diagnosis of uterine cervical tumors

Abstract

Objectives: Human Epididymal Secretory Protein 4 was firstly described as an epididymis-specific protein but more recently it has been demonstrated to be a putative serum tumor marker for different malignancies, especially ovarian epithelial cancers. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between tissue Human Epididymal Secretory Protein 4 expression and the clinicopathological features of uterine cervical tumors. Material and methods:This retrospective study was designed to evaluate the differences of tissue expressions of Human Epididymal Secretory Protein 4 protein in a spectrum of cervical neoplasms. One hundred and seven patients recently diagnosed as having cervical intraepithelial neoplasm or invasive squamous cell carcinoma, adenosquamous carcinoma and adenocarcinoma based on pathology databases.Results: Decreased or negative Human Epididymal Secretory Protein 4 expressions were determined in both normal cervical epithelia and in intraepithelial carcinomas, while increased HE4 expression was observed in invasive tumors. Conclusions:This study demonstrated that altered expression of Human Epididymal Secretory Protein 4 may involve in tumorigenesis in the uterine cervix. Our findings also suggested the presence of a correlation between Human Epididymal Secretory Protein 4 expression and the invasive potential of uterine tumors. Therefore it may be thought that the tissue expression of HE4 can be used to differentiate high grade intraepithelial tumors from carcinomas.

Pre-treatment Serum HE4 Level as a Novel Independent Prognostic Biomarker for Uterine Cervical Carcinoma Patients

“…Serum HE4 levels were significantly higher in UCC patients than in healthy controls, but lower compared to ovarian cancer patients ( 24 ), in agreement with the current results and with our previous papers ( 12 , 13 ). Diniz et al ( 25 ) recently evaluated by immunohistochemistry HE4 tissue expression in UCC, demonstrating that intraepithelial carcinomas and normal cervical epithelia had low or negative HE4 expression, while invasive UCC presented increased HE4 positivity, regardless of histological subtypes, consistent with the results obtained at the serum level in the present study. Accordingly, analysis of HE4 protein levels in both serum and tissue suggests that HE4 is more expressed in aggressive UCC phenotypes.…”

Over expressions of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin and kidney injury molecule-1 in human uterine cervical neoplasms enhance tumor invasion

“…The presence of a close relationship between the human papilloma virus (HPV) and cervical cancers has been reported in early epidemiological studies concerning cervical neoplasia. Therefore, conduction of screening studies among patients with cervical dysplasia associated with HPV carries utmost importance [11][12][13][14][15].…”