Expression of Estrogen Receptor (ER), Progesterone Receptor (PR), Her2/neu in Various Types of Epithelial Ovarian Tumors

The highest mortality rate in gynecologic cancers is attributed to ovarian origin. Expression of the estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER and PR); and Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2/neu) in endometrial cancer and breast cancer were found to be associated with the response to treatment and prognosis. However, because of inconsistent results from previous studies, the data regarding ovarian cancer are still inconclusive. Current retrospective cross-sectional study was performed on 234 tissue samples of different types of ovarian tumors (benign, borderline and malignant) from the archive of the University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center during 10 years. Tissue microarrays were constructed on representative areas from formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks using ER, PR and HER2 immunohistochemical staining. Prevalence of ER and PR overexpression was 36% and 35% in benign, 8% and 24% in borderline tumors with 51% and 46% in malignant tumors, respectively. ERα overexpression was more common among serous malignant ovarian tumors (49%) (p<0.001). PR positivity was more prevalent in serous benign tumors (p=0.02).There was no significant relationship between stage and the status of ERα (p=0.12) and PR (p=0.19). Her2/neu overexpression was only seen in borderline neoplasms (8%) and malignant mucinous tumors (4%). No association was found between Her2/neu overexpression and the level of tumor differentiation, tumor stage, size, and patient’s age. The observed ERα positivity in serous carcinoma and Her2/neu overexpression in malignant mucinous tumor, could be considered as a clue for choosing therapeutic agents. The role of anti-HER2 therapy in clear cell carcinoma is still debated and needs more investigations.