Gene Expression Profiles of Serous, Endometrioid, and Clear Cell Subtypes of Ovarian and Endometrial Cancer

• Published in: Clinical cancer research Vol. 11; no. 18; pp. 6422 - 6430
• Main Authors: ZORN, Kristin K, BONOME, Tomas, GANGI, Lisa, CHANDRAMOULI, Gadisetti V. R, AWTREY, Christopher S, GARDNER, Ginger J, BARRETT, J. Carl, BOYD, Jeff, BITTER, Michael J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA American Association for Cancer Research 15-09-2005
• Subjects: Adenocarcinoma, Clear Cell - genetics; Adenocarcinoma, Clear Cell - metabolism; Antineoplastic agents; Biological and medical sciences; Carcinoma, Endometrioid - genetics; Carcinoma, Endometrioid - metabolism; Carcinoma, Renal Cell - genetics; Carcinoma, Renal Cell - metabolism; Clear Cell Cancers; Cluster Analysis; Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous - genetics; Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous - metabolism; Endometrial Neoplasms - genetics; Endometrial Neoplasms - metabolism; Female; Female genital diseases; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Gynecologic cancers: other; Gynecologic cancers: ovarian; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Kidney Neoplasms - genetics; Kidney Neoplasms - metabolism; Medical sciences; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis - methods; Ovarian Neoplasms - genetics; Ovarian Neoplasms - metabolism; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 - analysis; Tumors; Ovarian diseases; Clear cell; Endometrium cancer; Ovary cancer; Uterine diseases; Malignant tumor; Subtype; Female genital diseases; Gene expression profile
• ISSN: 1078-0432; 1557-3265
• DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-05-0508

Purpose: The presence of similar histologic subtypes of epithelial ovarian and endometrial cancers has long been noted, although the
relevance of this finding to pathogenesis and clinical management is unclear. Despite similar clinical characteristics, histologic
subtypes of cancers of the ovary and endometrium are treated according to organ of origin. This study compares the gene expression
profiles of analogous histologic subtypes of cancers of the ovary and endometrium using the same genomic platform to determine
the similarities and differences between these tumors.
Experimental Design: Gene expression profiles of 75 cancers (endometrioid, serous, and clear cell) of the ovary and endometrium, five renal clear
cell cancers, and seven normal epithelial brushings were determined using a 11,000-element cDNA array. All images were analyzed
using BRB ArrayTools. Validation was done using real-time PCR on select genes and immunohistochemical staining.
Results: Comparison across endometrial and ovarian cancers and serous and endometrioid tumors showed expression patterns reflecting
their organ of origin. Clear cell tumors, however, showed remarkably similar expression patterns regardless of their origin,
even when compared with renal clear cell samples. A set of 43 genes was common to comparisons of each of the three histologic
subtypes of ovarian cancer with normal ovarian surface epithelium.
Conclusions: The comparison of the gene expression profiles of endometrioid and serous subtypes of ovarian and endometrial cancer are
largely unique to the combination of a particular subtype in a specific organ. In contrast, clear cell cancers show a remarkable
similarity in gene expression profiles across organs (including kidney) and could not be statistically distinguished.