Prognostic significance of Bcl-2, p53 overexpression,and lymph node metastasis in surgically staged endometrial carcinoma

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to clarify whether Bcl-2 and p53 have prognostic significance that is independent of lymph node metastasis and other conventional histopathologic factors in endometrial carcinoma. STUDY DESIGN: Immunohistochemistry for Bcl-2 and p53 expression was performed on the frozen sections of 102 cases that were treated with surgery, including pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy. Cox regression analysis was used to determine the prognostic significance. RESULTS: By univariate analysis, both loss of Bcl-2 expression and p53 overexpression were related to patient survival. Lymph node metastasis, p53 overexpression, and nuclear grade were found to be independent prognostic factors (determined by multivariate analysis). The estimated 5-year survival rate of patients with stage III/IV disease without p53 overexpression was 75.7%; the estimated 5-year survival rate for patients with p53 overexpression was only 40.4%. The difference was highly significant (P =.0053). CONCLUSION: Lymph node metastasis, p53 overexpression, and nuclear grade are independent prognostic factors for endometrial carcinoma. Bcl-2 may have little importance in the progression of endometrial carcinoma and is a less potent prognostic factor than is p53. A new treatment strategy is necessary for advanced stage endometrial carcinoma with p53 overexpression.