Prognostic Implications of Hyaluronic Acid Binding Protein 1 (HABP1) Expression, Estrogen Receptor (ER) and Progesterone Receptor (PR) Loss in Endometrial Carcinoma

Background: Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is the 4th commonest female cancer and the commonest gynecological tract malignancy. The prevalence rate is increasing; mainly in developing countries and the prognosis for recurrent or advanced EC are poor. The 5-year survival rates of EC patients are poor especially in women with metastatic EC. These bad outcomes need novel prognostic and predictive markers for EC for better managements of patients. Hyaluronic acid binding protein 1 (HABP1), which has a specific affinity toward hyaluronan (HA), was primarily discovered in cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cells. It is a eukaryotic protein conserved and ubiquitously found in multiple organisms; yeasts and humans. HABP1 expression, clinicopathological and prognostic importance in endometrial carcinoma is still not sufficiently clarified. Estrogen Receptor (ER) and Progesterone Receptor (PR) are biological molecules that have been studied as prognostic markers because of their essential physiological rules. Molecular biology advancements allow introduction of these hormone receptors to expect outcome of many cancers, e.g. ovarian, breast and EC. Aim: The aim of that study was to explore the expressions of HABP1, ER and PR in endometrial carcinoma patients, correlating their expressions with clinic-pathological factors and prognosis of patients. Methods: HABP1, ER and PR expressions were evaluated in sections from 60 paraffin blocks of EC. We analyzed correlations between the levels of markers expressions and prognosis of our patients. Results: HABP1 was expressed in 61% of EC. ER and PR were high in 56% and 63% of the patients, respectively. HABP1 expression, ER and PR loss were significantly associated with disease progression, disease free survival and poor overall survival (p=0.001, p=0.001and p=0.001, respectively). Conclusion: HABP1 high expression with ER and PR loss are markers of poor pognosis of EC patients.