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(CANCER RESEARCH 49, 2091-2095, April 15, 1989] Immunohistochemical Expression of CA 125 in Endometrial Adenocarcinoma: Correlation of Antigen Expression with Metastatic Potential1 Andrew Berchuck,2 Andrew P. Soisson, Daniel L. Clarke-Pearson, John T. Sopor, Cinda M. Boyer, Robert B. Kinney, Kenneth S. McCarty, Jr., and Robert C. Bast, Jr. Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecotogy [A. B., A. P. S., D. L. C-P., J. T. SJ, Medicine [C. M. B., K. S. M., K. C. B.], Pathology [R. T. K., K. S. M.], and Microbiology/ Immunology [C.M.B., R.C.B.], Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27710 ABSTRACT Immunohistochemical localization of CA 125 using murine monoclonal antibody OC 125 was performed on fresh frozen tissue from 44 endo- metrial adenocarcinomas and 26 benign endometria. Immunohistochem ical evaluation incorporated both intensity and distribution of staining (CA 125 HSCORE). Thirty-seven cancers (84%) and 23 benign endo metria (88%) expressed immunohistochemically detectable CA 125. Staining was confined to epithelial cells and was present both on the cell membrane and in the cytoplasm. Among the 44 endometrial cancers, CA 125 HSCORE did not correlate with histological grade, depth of my- ometrial invasion or estrogen/progesterone receptor levels. Following surgical staging, 13 patients (30%) were found to have extrauterine metastai ¡i- disease. The median CA 125 HSCORE of patients with metastatic disease (2.25) was significantly higher than that of patients with disease confined to the uterus (0.6) (/' < 0.001). In addition, high CA 125 HSCORE also correlated with the presence of lymph node metastasis (/' < 0.001). The results of this study suggest that high CA 125 expression by endometrial adenocarcinomas is associated with in creased metastatic potential. INTRODUCTION OC 125 is a murine monoclonal IgGl antibody that was raised against a human ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma cell line (1). CA 125, the antigenic determinant defined by OC 125, is expressed by most human epithelial ovarian cancers (1). It also is shed from the cell surface and CA 125 can be measured in serum using an immunoradiometric assay that employs OC 125 (2). Greater than 80% of patients with untreated nonmu- cinous epithelial ovarian cancer have elevated serum CA 125 levels, and serial serum CA 125 levels reflect the response of residual tumor to chemotherapy more accurately than physical examination or radiographie studies (3). Although CA 125 is not detectable in normal ovarian epithe lial cells, CA 125 can be demonstrated in the epithelial lining of the endocervix, endometrium and fallopian tubes of adult women (4). In addition, both cancers that arise in these sites and endometriosis often are associated with elevated serum CA 125 levels (5, 6). Adenocarcinoma of the endometrium is the most prevalent gynecologic malignancy and several studies of serum CA 125 levels in patients with this disease have been performed (7, 8). These studies have shown that, although serum CA 125 levels usually are normal when tumor is confined to the uterus, most patients with metastatic disease have ele vated serum CA 125 levels. Elevation of serum CA 125 in patients with metastatic disease is thought to be due to the presence of a relatively larger volume of tumor or increased access of antigen to the circulation due to vascular invasion. In this study, we have used an immunohistochemical tech- Received8/17/88;revised11/21/88;accepted1/12/89. Thecostsof publicationof thisarticleweredefrayedin partbythepayment ofpagecharges.Thisarticlemustthereforebeherebymarkedadvertisement in accordancewith18U.S.C.Section1734solelyto indicatethisfact. 1Supported in part by 5RO1 CA39930. 2To whom requests for reprints should be addressed. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, P. O. Box 3079, Durham, NC 27710. nique to examine directly the expression of CA 125 by normal endometrium and endometrial adenocarcinomas. All of the patients whose tumors were studied underwent hysterectomy, and in most cases complete surgical staging also was performed. In addition, estrogen and progesterone receptor levels were determined in all of the primary tumors. We have utilized this clinical information to study the relationship between CA 125 expression and known prognostic factors in endometrial cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients. All of the patients in this study with endometrial cancer underwent primary surgical treatment at Duke University between 1980 and 1986. During these years, fresh tissue was frozen in liquid nitrogen when material still was available after an adequate amount of tumor was submitted for histological examination and for biochemical steroid receptor measurement. When this study was initiated, tissue from 54 tumors was available. In 10 cases, however, the amount of tissue remaining was inadequate to allow assessment of CA 125 expression. All histological material from each case was reviewed by a single pathologist (K. S. M.); and the histological type, histological grade, and depth of myometrial invasion of each cancer was determined. Histolog ical grade was specified as either Grade 1, well differentiated; grade 2, moderately differentiated with partly solid areas; or Grade 3, predom inantly solid or undifferentiated, according to International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (F.I.G.O.) staging criteria (9). The depth of myometrial invasion was specified as either: 1, noninvasive tumors and those tumors invading the inner one-third of the uterine wall; 2, tumors with a maximal depth of invasion in the middle one-third of the uterine wall; or 3, tumors invading into the outer one-third of the uterine wall. The estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor status of each tumor was determined using immunohistochemical techniques that employ murine monoclonal antibodies raised against these receptors (H222 and B39). These techniques have been described previously (10, 11) and they have been shown to correlate closely with biochemical estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor assays. The threshold for positivity in the immunohistochemical assays has been set at a level that corre sponds to greater than or equal to 10 femtomole of specific binding per milligram of tissue protein in the biochemical assays. Normal uterine tissues, including endometrium and myometrium, from 26 women were frozen following hysterectomy. All of these uteri were removed at Duke University in 1987 for the treatment of benign gynecological diseases. All 21 women who were of reproductive age were having regular cyclic menses. Endometrial dating was assessed using histological criteria of Noyéset al. (12). Five women were postmenopausal. None of these women had received hormonal therapy in the 2 months prior to hysterectomy. Immunohistochemical Localization of CA 125. Tissue samples were removed from uteri immediately after surgical excision and stored in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at —¿70°C. Tissue samples were thawed and refrozen in Tissue Tek OCT compound (Ames division, Miles laboratories, Elkhart, Indiana) and 6-¿imthick cryosections were mounted on plain glass slides. Slides were air dried for l h and then incubated for 10 min in phosphate buffered saline with 0.3% hydrogen peroxide to neutralize endogenous peroxidase. The slides were fixed in acetone for 10 min at room temperature and then rehydrated in phos phate buffered saline. Immunohistochemical staining was performed with the Vectastain 2091 Research. on February 2, 2020. © 1989 American Association for Cancer cancerres.aacrjournals.org Downloaded from
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Page 1: Immunohistochemical Expression of CA 125 in Endometrial ...tive or qualitative difference in CA 125 expression could be appreciated between samples from various phases of the men strual

(CANCER RESEARCH 49, 2091-2095, April 15, 1989]

Immunohistochemical Expression of CA 125 in Endometrial Adenocarcinoma:Correlation of Antigen Expression with Metastatic Potential1

Andrew Berchuck,2 Andrew P. Soisson, Daniel L. Clarke-Pearson, John T. Sopor, Cinda M. Boyer, Robert B. Kinney,

Kenneth S. McCarty, Jr., and Robert C. Bast, Jr.Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecotogy [A. B., A. P. S., D. L. C-P., J. T. SJ, Medicine [C. M. B., K. S. M., K. C. B.], Pathology [R. T. K., K. S. M.], and Microbiology/Immunology [C.M.B., R.C.B.], Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27710

ABSTRACT

Immunohistochemical localization of CA 125 using murine monoclonalantibody OC 125 was performed on fresh frozen tissue from 44 endo-metrial adenocarcinomas and 26 benign endometria. Immunohistochemical evaluation incorporated both intensity and distribution of staining(CA 125 HSCORE). Thirty-seven cancers (84%) and 23 benign endometria (88%) expressed immunohistochemically detectable CA 125.Staining was confined to epithelial cells and was present both on the cellmembrane and in the cytoplasm. Among the 44 endometrial cancers, CA125 HSCORE did not correlate with histological grade, depth of my-ometrial invasion or estrogen/progesterone receptor levels. Followingsurgical staging, 13 patients (30%) were found to have extrauterinemetastai ¡i-disease. The median CA 125 HSCORE of patients with

metastatic disease (2.25) was significantly higher than that of patientswith disease confined to the uterus (0.6) (/' < 0.001). In addition, high

CA 125 HSCORE also correlated with the presence of lymph nodemetastasis (/' < 0.001). The results of this study suggest that high CA

125 expression by endometrial adenocarcinomas is associated with increased metastatic potential.

INTRODUCTION

OC 125 is a murine monoclonal IgGl antibody that wasraised against a human ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma cellline (1). CA 125, the antigenic determinant defined by OC 125,is expressed by most human epithelial ovarian cancers (1). Italso is shed from the cell surface and CA 125 can be measuredin serum using an immunoradiometric assay that employs OC125 (2). Greater than 80% of patients with untreated nonmu-cinous epithelial ovarian cancer have elevated serum CA 125levels, and serial serum CA 125 levels reflect the response ofresidual tumor to chemotherapy more accurately than physicalexamination or radiographie studies (3).

Although CA 125 is not detectable in normal ovarian epithelial cells, CA 125 can be demonstrated in the epithelial liningof the endocervix, endometrium and fallopian tubes of adultwomen (4). In addition, both cancers that arise in these sitesand endometriosis often are associated with elevated serum CA125 levels (5, 6). Adenocarcinoma of the endometrium is themost prevalent gynecologic malignancy and several studies ofserum CA 125 levels in patients with this disease have beenperformed (7, 8). These studies have shown that, althoughserum CA 125 levels usually are normal when tumor is confinedto the uterus, most patients with metastatic disease have elevated serum CA 125 levels. Elevation of serum CA 125 inpatients with metastatic disease is thought to be due to thepresence of a relatively larger volume of tumor or increasedaccess of antigen to the circulation due to vascular invasion.

In this study, we have used an immunohistochemical tech-

Received8/17/88;revised11/21/88;accepted1/12/89.Thecostsof publicationof this articleweredefrayedin part bythe payment

of pagecharges.Thisarticlemustthereforebe herebymarkedadvertisementinaccordancewith18U.S.C.Section1734solelyto indicatethisfact.

1Supported in part by 5RO1 CA39930.2To whom requests for reprints should be addressed. Department of Obstetrics

and Gynecology, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Duke University MedicalCenter, P. O. Box 3079, Durham, NC 27710.

nique to examine directly the expression of CA 125 by normalendometrium and endometrial adenocarcinomas. All of thepatients whose tumors were studied underwent hysterectomy,and in most cases complete surgical staging also was performed.In addition, estrogen and progesterone receptor levels weredetermined in all of the primary tumors. We have utilized thisclinical information to study the relationship between CA 125expression and known prognostic factors in endometrial cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Patients. All of the patients in this study with endometrial cancerunderwent primary surgical treatment at Duke University between 1980and 1986. During these years, fresh tissue was frozen in liquid nitrogenwhen material still was available after an adequate amount of tumorwas submitted for histological examination and for biochemical steroidreceptor measurement. When this study was initiated, tissue from 54tumors was available. In 10 cases, however, the amount of tissueremaining was inadequate to allow assessment of CA 125 expression.

All histological material from each case was reviewed by a singlepathologist (K. S. M.); and the histological type, histological grade, anddepth of myometrial invasion of each cancer was determined. Histological grade was specified as either Grade 1, well differentiated; grade 2,moderately differentiated with partly solid areas; or Grade 3, predominantly solid or undifferentiated, according to International Federationof Gynecology and Obstetrics (F.I.G.O.) staging criteria (9). The depthof myometrial invasion was specified as either: 1, noninvasive tumorsand those tumors invading the inner one-third of the uterine wall; 2,tumors with a maximal depth of invasion in the middle one-third ofthe uterine wall; or 3, tumors invading into the outer one-third of theuterine wall.

The estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor status of each tumorwas determined using immunohistochemical techniques that employmurine monoclonal antibodies raised against these receptors (H222and B39). These techniques have been described previously (10, 11)and they have been shown to correlate closely with biochemical estrogenreceptor and progesterone receptor assays. The threshold for positivityin the immunohistochemical assays has been set at a level that corresponds to greater than or equal to 10 femtomole of specific binding permilligram of tissue protein in the biochemical assays.

Normal uterine tissues, including endometrium and myometrium,from 26 women were frozen following hysterectomy. All of these uteriwere removed at Duke University in 1987 for the treatment of benigngynecological diseases. All 21 women who were of reproductive agewere having regular cyclic menses. Endometrial dating was assessedusing histological criteria of Noyéset al. (12). Five women werepostmenopausal. None of these women had received hormonal therapyin the 2 months prior to hysterectomy.

Immunohistochemical Localization of CA 125. Tissue samples wereremoved from uteri immediately after surgical excision and stored inphosphate buffered saline (PBS) at —¿�70°C.Tissue samples were thawed

and refrozen in Tissue Tek OCT compound (Ames division, Mileslaboratories, Elkhart, Indiana) and 6-¿imthick cryosections weremounted on plain glass slides. Slides were air dried for l h and thenincubated for 10 min in phosphate buffered saline with 0.3% hydrogenperoxide to neutralize endogenous peroxidase. The slides were fixed inacetone for 10 min at room temperature and then rehydrated in phosphate buffered saline.

Immunohistochemical staining was performed with the Vectastain

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ÇA 125 AND METASTASIS OF ENDOMETR1AL ADENOCARCINOMA

ABC kit (Vector laboratories, Burlingame, CA). Briefly, slides wereplaced in a humidified chamber and incubated with several drops ofdiluted horse serum (3 drops in 10 ml phosphate buffered saline) for15 min. Then 70 n\ of primary' antibody were applied over the tissue

sections for 30 min at a concentration of 5 fig/ml. After washing withphosphate buffered saline, biotinylated anti-mouse IgG antibody wasadded for 20 min followed by the avidin-peroxidase complex. Finally,the slides were developed with the enzymatic substrate diaminobenzi-dene (5 mg/ml) and 0.03% hydrogen peroxide. Sections were counter-stained with hematoxylin and mounted with Crystal Mount (Lernerlaboratories. Pittsburgh, PA).

Immunohistochemical localization of CA 125 was evaluated usingserial sections. First, a section stained with hematoxylin & eosin wasexamined to evaluate the histology. Then, a negative control slidestained with JO, a murine monoclonal antibody raised against a hepatitis virus, was examined to assess nonspecific staining. Finally, theslide in which OC 125 was used as the primary antibody was examined.The proportion (P¡)of tumor cells expressing detectable CA 125 wasestimated after taking into account the percentage of tumor cellspresent. In cases in which staining was greater than control, the intensity (i) was judged as 1+ (light staining) or 2+ (heavy staining). Thesetwo indices of CA 125 expression were used to calculate the CA 125HSCORE (histological score). The CA 125 HSCORE was derived bysumming the proportion of cells staining at each intensity multipliedby the intensity of staining.

CA 125 HSCORE = £/>,(i + 1)

where i = 1, 2 and P¡varies from 0.0 to 1.0. CA 125 HSCOREs rangedfrom a minimum of zero in cases with no staining to a maximum of3.0 in cases in which all of tumor cells stained with maximal intensity.The CA 125 HSCORE was determined by two sets of independentobservers. Differences of greater than 10% occurred in 18% of casesand were resolved by consensus.

Statistics. The statistical analysis of data in this study was performedusing either the x2 or Mann-Whitney tests (13).

RESULTS

Immunohistochemically detectable CA 125 was present in88% of 26 benign endometria. CA 125 expression was seenonly in endometrial epithelial cells. Among the 21 endometriaobtained from premenopausal patients, 13 were proliferativeand eight were secretory. Staining greater than control wasobserved using OC 125 in all but one specimen. The percentageof glandular cells expressing CA 125 was 100% in 14 cases,90% in two cases, 75% in one case, and 50% in three cases.The median CA 125 HSCORE in these 21 cases was 2.7.Although staining usually was most intense on the luminalsurface of cells, staining often was seen in the basal cytoplasmas well. In Fig. 1, a normal secretory endometrium stained withOC 125 is shown along with its negative control. No quantitative or qualitative difference in CA 125 expression could beappreciated between samples from various phases of the menstrual cycle. Among five postmenopausal patients with atrophieendometrium, CA 125 expression was observed in three cases.

The median age of the 44 women with endometrial cancerwas 66 years. All of the patients underwent clinical stagingpreoperatively including fractional D&C. The clinical stage ofdisease was assigned prior to surgery according to criteriaoutlined in the F.I.G.O. staging system (9). Thirty-five patientshad Stage I (corpus only), seven patients had Stage II disease(corpus and cervix), one patient had Stage III disease (met-astatic disease confined to pelvis), and one patient had StageIV disease (metastatic disease outside the pelvis). All 44 patientsunderwent exploratory laparotomy, total abdominal hysterectomy, and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Pelvic peritonealcytology was performed in 42 cases and selective pelvic and

B

s

Fig. 1. Immunohistochemical localization of CA 125 inendometrium. Õ.negative control antibody JO is used as theB, OC 125 is used as the primary antibody.

normal secretoryprimary antibody;

paraaortic lymphadenectomy was performed in 31 cases. Elevenpatients with clinical Stage I and II disease (confined to theuterus) were found to have occult extrauterine disease (surgicalStage III/IV) after surgical staging. Patients with malignantperitoneal cytology were not considered surgical Stage III orIV unless there also was histological evidence of metastaticdisease.

Thirty-seven endometrial cancers (84%) were found to express immunohistochemically detectable CA 125 while in seventumors (16%) staining was not greater than control. Five ofseven CA 125 negative tumors were reactive with either or boththe antiestrogen receptor (H222) or antiprogesterone receptor(B39) monoclonal antibodies. The preservation of these heat-labile antigens is suggestive that failure of these seven tumorsto react with OC 125 was not due to poor preservation oftissues. In endometrial cancer specimens, like normal endometrium, immunohistochemically detectable CA 125 was observed only in glandular cells. CA 125 expression was strongestat the apices of malignant glandular cells on the luminal surfacewhen tumor cells were forming glands. Cytoplasmic stainingalso was noted in most cases as well. In Fig. 2, a CA 125-positive tumor is demonstrated along its negative control. Several tumor specimens contained small areas of benign endometrium that usually stained intensely with OC 125. Areas ofbenign endometrium were not included in the calculation of theCA 125 HSCORE.

All of the cancers studied were endometrioid adenocarcino-mas. None were adenosquamous, clear cell, or papillary serous

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ÇA 125 AND METASTASIS OF ENDOMETRIAL ADENOCARCINOMA

B

'•^«^:

Fig. 2. Immunohistochemical localization of CA 125 in endometrial adeno-carcinoma. f. negative control antibody JO is used as the primary antibody; B,OC 125 is used as the primary antibody.

Table 1 Relationship of histological grade and depth of myometrial invasion tosurgical stage and CA 125 HSCORE

Histological grade12

3Depth

of invasion123Surgical

StageIII/IVNo.

patients/total(%)4/14(29%)

3/15(20%)6/15(40%)2/16(13%)

2/10(20%)9/18 (50%)CA

125 HSCORE(mean)1.60

1.091.371.18

1.831.23

terine disease at other sites. In eleven other patients, nodesampling was omitted either because the patient was at increased risk of surgical complications due to concomitant medical problems or because the tumor was found to be welldifferentiated and only superficially invasive at the time ofsurgery. Among these 31 patients, eight (26%) were found tohave nodal métastases.There was a significant correlationbetween high CA 125 HSCORE and the presence of lymphnode métastases(P < 0.001). The median CA 125 HSCOREof patients with nodal métastaseswas 2.03 while the medianCA 125 HSCORE of patients with negative nodes was 1.0.Eight of sixteen (50%) patients with a CA 125 HSCORE greaterthan 1.0 had nodal métastaseswhile none of 15 patients with aCA 125 HSCORE less than or equal to 1.0 had nodal métastases.

In Fig. 3, the relationship between CA 125 HSCORE andthe presence of extrauterine metastasis (surgical Stage III andIV disease) is shown. Among the 44 patients in this study, 13(30%) had extrauterine disease. There was a significant correlation between high CA 125 HSCORE and the presence ofmetastatic disease (P< 0.001). The median CA 125 HSCOREof the 13 patients with extrauterine disease was 2.25 while themedian CA 125 HSCORE of the 31 patients without extrauterine disease was 0.6. If the 11 patients with surgical Stage Ior II disease who did not undergo lymphadenectomy are excluded, the median CA 125 HSCORE of the patients withdisease confined to the uterus is 0.70. Fifty-six % of 23 patientswith a CA 125 HSCORE greater than 1.0 had extrauterinedisease while none of 21 patients with a CA 125 HSCORE lessthan or equal to 1.0 had extrauterine disease.

The relationship between CA 125 HSCORE and the findingsof pelvic peritoneal cytology is examined in Table 3. Pelvicperitoneal cytology was not performed in two cases. Among the42 patients in whom cytology was performed, 13 (31%) werefound to have malignant cells present. There was a significantcorrelation between high CA 125 HSCORE and positive pelvicperitoneal cytology (P< 0.01). The median CA 125 HSCORE

Table 2 Relationship ofCA 125 HSCORE lo lymph node metastasis

No. of patients

CA 125 HSCORE Negative nodes Positive nodes

0.0-1.01.1-2.02.1-3.0

1553

3.0--A

type. Table 1 demonstrates the relationship between histologi-cal grade and depth of myometrial invasion and the presenceof metastatic disease (surgical Stage III and IV). AlthoughGrade 3 tumors had the highest incidence of metastatic disease,the relationship between grade and metastatic disease was notstatistically significant in this study (x2 = 1.45; P = 0.5). There

was, however, a significant relationship between the depth ofmyometrial invasion and the presence of metastatic (x2 = 6.06;

P < 0.05). There was no significant correlation between CA125 HSCORE and histological grade or depth of invasion.

In Table 2; the relationship between CA 125 HSCORE andlymph node métastasesis examined. Thirty-one of 44 patientsunderwent lymph node sampling. In two patients, lymph nodesampling was not performed because of the presence of extrau-

2093

20--

CA 125HSCORE

IO--

AAMI g AAUO

DA GO

ÛOOO

A¿A

A

+

Stage I/n Stage m/E Stage I/ÕÕ Stage m/E

Fig. 3. Relationship of CA 125 HSCORE to surgical stage. In A, the histological grade of each patient is shown (A, well differentiated; •¿�.moderately differentiated; •¿�,poorly differentiated). In li. the depth of myometrial invasion of eachpatient is shown (A, inner one-third invasion; O, middle one-third invasion; D,outer one-third invasion).

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ÇA125 AND METASTASIS OF ENDOMETRIAL ADENOCARCINOMA

Table 3 Relationship ofCA 125 HSCORE lo peritoneal cytology

No. ofpatientsCA

125HSCORE0.0-1.0

1.1-2.02.1-3.0Negative

cytology19

55Positive

cytology3

46

of patients with positive cytology was 1.8 while the median CA125 HSCORE of patients with negative cytology was 0.8. Therelationship between pelvic peritoneal cytology and CA 125HSCORE is not significant, however, if the six patients inwhom positive cytology was the only evidence of extrauterinedisease are examined separately from the other seven patientswho had histológica! evidence of extrauterine disease in addition to positive cytology. Among the six patients with positivecytology only, three had a CA 125 HSCORE less than 1.0.These data are consistent with the widely held belief that tumorcells which reach the peritoneal cavity have been shed throughthe fallopian tube and will not necessarily establish métastases.

Among the 44 patients in this study, 50% were found to haveestrogen receptor positive tumors and 49% were found to haveprogesterone receptor positive tumors. Both estrogen receptorand progesterone receptor positivity were found to be relatedinversely to histologie tumor grade. For estrogen receptor (x2= 6.86; P < 0.05) and for progesterone receptor (x2 = 13.1; P

< 0.005). Among Grade 1 tumors, 79% were estrogen receptorpositive and 86% were progesterone receptor positive. AmongGrade 2 tumors, 40% were estrogen receptor positive and 40%were progesterone receptor positive. Among Grade 3 tumors,33% were estrogen receptor positive and 20% were progesterone receptor positive. In this study, estrogen receptor statuswas not predictive of the presence of metastatic disease. Thirty-five % of patients with estrogen receptor-positive tumors hadmetastatic disease compared to 23% of patients with estrogenreceptor negative tumors. Although patients with progesteronereceptor-negative tumors had a higher incidence of metastaticdisease (39%) than patients with progesterone receptor-positivetumors (19%), the difference was not statistically significant.In addition, the combined estrogen receptor/progesteronereceptor status also was not predictive of the presence of metastatic disease. Finally, there was no correlation between estrogen and progesterone receptor status and CA 125 HSCORE.

DISCUSSION

CA 125 was the first human epithelial ovarian cancer tumor-associated antigen to be defined by a murine monoclonal antibody (1). Although CA 125 has not been completely characterized, it is known to be a determinant expressed on a highmolecular weight glycoprotein. Several immunoreactive formsof CA 125 have been found that range from A/r 200,000 togreater than 1,000,000 ( 14). Immunohistochemical studies haverevealed that CA 125 is detectable on the apical surface ofnormal epithelial cells of the pleura, pericardium, peritoneum,fallopian tube, endometrium, and endocervix (4). In contrast,normal ovarian epithelium, although also derived from coe-lomic epithelium, does not express immunohistochemicallydetectable CA 125. CA 125 jias been shown to be a valuabletumor marker for monitoring the status of disease in patientswith epithelial ovarian cancer. Greater than 80% of patientswith epithelial ovarian cancer have elevated serum CA 125levels at diagnosis and serial serum CA 125 levels correlatewith changes in disease status in most cases (2).

More recently, studies have been performed to assess the

utility of CA 125 as a tumor marker in endometrial cancer (7,8). Approximately 20-25% of patients with disease that clinically appears to be confined to the uterus (Stage I and II) haveelevated serum CA 125 levels. In addition, almost 75% ofpatients with advanced stage disease or recurrent disease haveelevated levels. Complete surgical staging of patients with clinical Stage I and II disease reveals that most patients withelevated serum CA 125 levels actually have occult metastaticdisease. In one recent study (8), 57 of 58 patients with clinicalStage I and II disease who had normal serum CA 125 levelsdid not have evidence of occult extrauterine disease after complete surgical staging. In contrast, 20 of 23 patients with clinicalStage I and II disease who had elevated serum CA 125 levelswere found to have occult extrauterine disease. Although elevation of serum CA 125 has been found to be predictive of thepresence of metastatic disease, it has not been found to correlatewith histológica! features that historically have been predictiveof the presence of extrauterine disease—namely histologicalgrade and depth of myometrial invasion (7, 8).

The patients in the present study are not a random sampleof all patients with adenocarcinoma of the endometrium. Thestudy population is drawn mostly from patients with largetumors because we only were able to save frozen tumor tissuein cases in which there was residual tissue available after a prioruterine curettage and after adequate material had been submitted for routine histological examination and biochemical steroid receptor determination. Due to this selection process, thedistribution of patients with respect to histological grade anddepth of myometrial invasion is not normal. Recently, a largecooperative study designed to evaluate surgical staging of endometrial cancer reported that 19% of patients had poorlydifferentiated tumors and that 15% of patients had tumors thatinvaded the outer one-third of the myometrium (15). In thepresent study, 32% of patients had poorly differentiated tumorsand 41% had outer one-third invasion.

Due to the large proportion of patients in this study withpoorly differentiated or deeply invasive tumors, the percentageof patients with metastatic disease (30%) also was higher thanordinarily would be expected in a randomly selected group ofpatients with endometrial cancer. As in prior studies, we founda significant relationship between the depth of myometrialinvasion and the presence of metastatic disease. Although inthis study, poorly differentiated cancers had the highest incidence of métastases,the relationship between histological gradeand the presence of metastatic disease was not statisticallysignificant due to the small number of patients in this study.Similarly, steroid receptor status also was less predictive of thepresence of metastatic disease than has been reported previously, although receptor status did correlate with histologicalgrade (16).

In the only prior immunohistochemical study of CA 125expression in adenocarcinoma of the endometrium, Duk et al.reported reactivity in 100% of 20 cases (7). Our results do notconfirm the findings of this previous report. Although we tooinitially observed reactivity with OC 125 in all cases, stainingalso was seen on the negative control slides that had beenexposed to JO rather than OC 125. When tissue sections werepreincubated in 0.3% hydrogen peroxide to neutralize endogenous peroxidase, the slides that were exposed to JO werenonreactive as were 16% of the slides exposed to OC 125. Sincefive of the seven tumors that failed to react with OC 125 didreact with either the antiestrogen or antiprogesterone receptormonoclonal antibodies, it is unlikely that failure to react withOC 125 was due to poor preservation of tissues. Reactivity of

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ÇA 125 AND METASTASIS OF ENDOMETRIAL ADENOCARCINOMA

100% of cases with OC 125 in the study of Duk et al. may havebeen due to the presence of endogenous peroxidase that wasnot neutralized. This probably was not noted because a negativecontrol antibody apparently was not used.

Previously, it has been thought that elevated serum CA 125levels are present only in patients with metastatic endometrialcancer because of the presence of a larger volume of tumor inthese patients. Alternatively, it has been suggested that elevation of serum CA 125 levels is due to increased access of CA125 to the circulation as a result of vascular invasion by metastatic tumors. In contrast, the data presented in this study issuggestive that elevated serum CA 125 levels in patients withmetastatic disease may be due at least in part to increasedexpression of CA 125 by individual tumor cells. The regulationof CA 125 production and its route of entry into the circulationremain poorly understood, however, in both normal individualsand those with cancer. Since most normal individuals havesmall amounts of CA 125 in serum (2), it has been proposedthat CA 125 produced by normal glandular cells probablyreaches the circulation via lymphatics. Additional studies areneeded to clarify further the factors that regulate serum CA125 levels.

Although in this study a high CA 125 HSCORE correlatedwith the presence of metastatic disease, it remains unclearwhether expression of CA 125 is involved directly in the complex biomolecular events that culminate in tumor metastasis orwhether these are merely coincident biological phenomenon.Evidence does exist, however, that is suggestive that changes inthe composition of cell surface glycoproteins are related to theability of tumors to metastasize. It has been shown, for example,that the metastatic potential of B16 mouse melanoma variantsis related to the amount of glycosylation of cell surface glycoproteins (17). Since not all tumors with the highest CA 125HSCORE had metastatic disease, high CA 125 expression mayrepresent one of a number of biological phenomenon that maycorrelate with the development of tumor métastases.

Adenocarcinoma of the endometrium is the most commongynecological malignancy, and approximately 85% of patientshave clinical Stage I or II disease at diagnosis (9). The resultsof this study are suggestive that direct evaluation of CA 125expression by endometrial adenocarcinomas may allow moreaccurate assessment of the risk of occult metastatic disease thancan be achieved using traditional histological prognostic factors.In this preliminary study, CA 125 HSCORE was more highlypredictive of the presence or absence of metastatic disease thanhistological grade, depth of myometrial invasion or steroidreceptor status. Fifty-six % of the patients with a CA 125HSCORE greater than 1.0 had metastatic disease while noneof the patients with a CA 125 HSCORE less than or equal to1.0 had métastases.In this study, as in prior studies of serumCA 125 levels, CA 125 HSCORE was independent of othertraditional prognostic factors.

These preliminary data suggest that CA 125 HSCORE determination might permit more accurate assessment of themetastatic potential of endometrial cancers prior to surgery if

this technique was performed on tissue samples obtained atD&C. More accurate identification of high risk patients, whocould be considered candidates for surgical staging, wouldfacilitate individualization of surgical treatment. Alternatively,CA 125 HSCORE determination might be used in place ofsurgical staging to select patients who may benefit from adjuvant therapy following hysterectomy. Presently, we are studyingprospectively CA 125 HSCORE in tumor obtained at D&C, aswell as serum CA 125 levels, to define further the utility of thistumor marker in the management of patients with endometrialcancer.

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2. Bast, R. C., Klug, T. L., St. John, E., Jenison, E., Niloff. J. M., Lazarus, H.,Berkowitz, R. S., Leavitt, T., Griffiths, C. T., Parker, L., Zurawski, V. R.,and Knapp, R. C. A radioimmunoassay using a monoclonal antibody tomonitor the course of epithelial ovarian cancer. N. Engl. J. Med., 309: 883-887, 1983.

3. Lavin, P. T., Knapp, R. C., Malkasian, G., Whitney, C. W., Berek, J. C,and Bast, R. C., Jr. CA 125 for the monitoring of ovarian carcinoma duringprimary therapy. Obstet. Gynecol., 69: 223-227, 1987.

4. Kabawat, S. E., Bast, R. C., Jr., Bhan, A. K., Welch, W. R., Knapp, R. C.,and Colvin, R. V. Tissue distribution of a coelomic-epithelium-related antigenrecognized by the monoclonal antibody OC 12S. Int. J. Gynecol. Pathol., 2:275-285, 1983.

5. Niloff, J. M., Klug, T. L., Schaetzl, E., Zurawski, V. R., Jr., Knapp, R. C,and Bast, R. C., Jr. Elevation of serum CA 125 in carcinomas of the fallopiantube, endometrium and endocervix. Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol., 148: 1057-1058, 1984.

6. Barbieri, R. L., Niloff, J. M., Bast, R. C., Jr., Schaetzl, E., Kistner, R. W.,and Knapp. R. C. Elevated serum concentrations of CA 125 in patients withadvanced endometriosis. Fértil.Steril., 45: 630-634, 1986.

7. Duk, J. M., Aalders, J. G., Fleuren, G. J., and deBruijn, H. W. A. CA 125:a useful marker in endometrial carcinoma. Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol., 155:1097-1102,1986.

8. Patsner, B., Mann, W. J., Cohen, H., and Loesch, M. Predictive value ofpreoperative serum CA 125 levels in clinically localized and advanced endometrial carcinoma. Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol., 158: 399-402, 1988.

9. Kottmeier, H. L. (ed.) Annual report on the treatment in gynecologic cancer,Vol. 17. International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Stockholm,Sweden, 1979.

10. Budwit-Novotny, D. A., McCarty, K. S., Cox, E. B., Soper, J. T., Mutch, D.G., Creasman, W. T., Flowers, J. L., and McCarty, K. S., Jr. Immunohisto-chemical analyses of estrogen receptor in endometrial adenocarcinoma usinga monoclonal antibody. Cancer Res., 46: 5419-5425, 1986.

11. Segreti, E. M., Novotny, D. B., Creasman, W. T., Soper, J. T., Mutch, D.G., Greene, G. L., and McCarty, K. S., Jr. Endometrial cancer: histologicalcorrelates of immunohistochemical localization of progesterone receptor andestrogen receptor. Obstet. Gynecol., in press, 1989.

12. Noyes, R. W., Hertig, A. T., and Rock, J. Dating the endometrium. Fértil.Steril., 7:3-11, 1950.

13. Zar, J. H. (ed.) Biostatistical Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall,Inc., 1984.

14. Davis, H. M., Zurawski, V. R., Jr., Bast, R. C., Jr., and Klug, T. L.Characterization of the CA 125 antigen associated with human epithelialovarian cancers. Cancer Res., 46: 6143-6148, 1986.

15. Boronow, R. C., Morrow, C. P., Creasman, W. T., DiSaia, P. J., Silverberg,S. G., Miller, A., and Blessing, J. A. Surgical staging in endometrial cancer:clinical-pathologic findings of a prospective study. Obstet. Gynecol., 63:825-832, 1984.

16. Creasman, W. T., Soper, J. T., McCarty, K. S., Jr., McCarty, K. S., Sr.,Hinshaw, W., and Clarke-Pearson, D. L. Influence of cytoplasmic steroidreceptor content on prognosis of early stage endometrial carcinoma. Am. J.Obstet. Gynecol., 151: 922-932, 1985.

17. Yogeeswaran, G., and Salk, P. L. Metastatic potential is positively correlatedwith cell surface sialylation of cultured murine tumor cell lines. Science(Wash. DC), 2/2: 1514-1515, 1981.

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1989;49:2091-2095. Cancer Res   Andrew Berchuck, Andrew P. Soisson, Daniel L. Clarke-Pearson, et al.   Metastatic PotentialAdenocarcinoma: Correlation of Antigen Expression with Immunohistochemical Expression of CA 125 in Endometrial

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