Objective: To investigate the prognostic value of Ku70 protein expression in patients with endometrial cancer and to examine the correlation between Ku70 expression and established prognostic factors.
Methods: Ku70 immunoreactivity was determined by an immunohistochemical technique in a series of 81 patients with stages I-III primary endometrial carcinoma. The prognostic value of Ku70 expression was also studied in 74 patients who had been followed for at least 1 year or until death.
Results: The median percentage of Ku70 expression was 80%. The established clinicopathological prognostic factors for endometrial carcinoma were not associated with Ku70 expression. Although disease-free survival was significantly higher in patients with lower levels than median value of Ku70 (P < 0.05), overall survival was not different. In the univariate analysis, Ku70 expression did not show significant prognostic value for overall survival. The multivariate analysis also showed that Ku70 expression was not related to patient's outcome (P = 0.51, relative risk = 0.27, 95% confidence interval = 0.10-1.92).
Conclusions: Our results suggest that Ku70 expression may not be a prognostic marker in endometrial carcinoma patients. However, disease-free survival was significantly higher in patients with low percentage of Ku70-positive tumor cells. More studies are needed to evaluate the correlation between Ku70 and survival in patients with endometrial cancer.