Expression And Clinical Significance Of Tn Antigen In Endometrial Carcinoma

ObjectiveThis study was designed to detect Tn antigen expression byimmunohistochemistry in normal endometrium, atypical hyperplasia and endometrialcarcinoma. To evaluate the relationship between expression level and myometrialinvasion depth, surgical-pathologic stage, histopathological grading, lymph nodemetastasis and cancer embolus.To explore the role of Tn antigen in the occurrence,development and prognosis of endometrial carcinoma. To provide a reference for theearly diagnosis treatment and prognosis of endometrial carcinoma.MethodsOne hundred and thirty nine clinical tissue samples including25normalendometrial,104endometrial cancers and10atypical hyperplasia were collected. Thetissues were fixed with4%formalin solution and embedded in paraffin. The4μm-thick sections were simultaneously analyzed by the conventional staining method(hematoxylin and eosin) and by an indirect immunohistocheical method utiliaing VVLand the streptavidin-biotin-peroxidase labeling system.Results1. The frequency rate of positive Tn tests was12%（3of25） for normalendometrium,30%（3of10）for atypical hyperplasia and69%（72of104）forendometrial carcinoma. The positive expression of Tn antigen in endometrialcarcinoma was significantly increased. In all, the positive expression of Tn antigen inendometrial carcinoma was significantly higher than that in normaltissues(P=0.000,P<0.01) and that in atypical hyperplastic tissues (P=0.030,P<0.05). Tobe noticed, there was no difference between normal tissues and atypical hyperplastictissues (P>0.05). 2. The positive expression of Tn antigen in surgical stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ92%（22of24）was significantly higher than that in Ⅰ-Ⅱ63%（50of80）. The statistically significantdifference was found between the two groups（P=0.014,P<0.05）.3. The positive expression of Tn antigen in typeⅠendometrial cancer was（77%,46of60）, which was higher than that in typeⅡendometrial cancer （59%,26of44）.But there was no difference between the two groups (P>0.05).4. The positive expression of Tn antigen in G1、G2、G3was43%（12of28）、66%（21of32）、89%（39of44）. The positive expression of Tn antigen in G3（89%,39of44）was significantly higher than that in G2（66%,21of32）(P<0.05) and thatin G1（43%,12of28）(P<0.05).5. The positive expression of Tn antigen in depth of myometrial≥1/2was85%（44of52）, which was significantly higher than that in depth of myometrial <1/2was54%（28of52）. The statistically significant difference was found between the twogroups（P=0.001, P<0.01）.6. The positive expression of Tn antigen in without lymph node metastasis was83%（30of36）, which was significantly higher than that in lymph node metastasis62%（42of68）. There was a significant difference between the two groups（P=0.041,P<0.05）.7. The positive expression of Tn antigen in without cancer embolus was70%（28of40）, which was higher than that in cancer embolus69%（44of64）. But there wasno difference between the two groups (P>0.05).Conclusion1. Our results showed that the expression rate of Tn was12%in normal tissues,30%in atypical hyperplastic endometrium and69%in endometrial carcinoma, whichindicated that Tn antigen was involved in endometrial carcinogenesis and progression.2. Tn antigen expression was correlated with surgical-pathologic stage,myometrial invasion depth, lymph node metastasis and histopathological grading,which indicated that Tn antigen may be involved in endometrial carcinoma transfer,infiltration process.