Differences in expression of tumor markers between pre- and postmenopausal women with invasive cervical cancer.

Unlabelled: THE AIM of the present study was to investigate the differences in the expression of tumor markers in squamous cell and in adenomatous carcinomas in pre- and postmenopausal women, respectively.

Patients And Methods: The study population comprised 53 premenopausal and 107 postmenopausal women. Thirty-four tumors were adenomatous (n=31) or adenosquamous carcinomas (n=3), distributed between 13 premenopausal and 21 postmenopausal women. The remaining 126 squamous cell carcinomas were diagnosed in 40 pre- and 86 postmenopausal women. Expression of ten tumor markers of possible clinical importance in cervical cancer was evaluated.

Results: Expression of three tumor markers, p53 (>0% vs. 0%), p27 (> or =20% vs. <20%) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) (high intensity vs. moderate/none) differed significantly between pre- compared to postmenopausal women with squamous cell (p27; 54% vs. 72%, p=0.009) or adenomatous carcinomas (p53; 8% vs. 63%, p=0.006 and COX-2; 46% vs. 20%, p=0.03). All results were adjusted for clinical cancer stage.

Conclusion: The unusual age-specific incidence curve in cervical cancer has rarely been related to expression of tumor markers. Age-related differences in expression of tumor markers could reflect some age-related different biological mechanisms in cervical cancer.