Roles of estrogen receptor α in endometrial carcinoma (Review)

Yidong Ge; Xiaoqi Ni; Jingyun Li; Meng Ye; Xiaofeng Jin

doi:10.3892/ol.2023.14117

Roles of estrogen receptor α in endometrial carcinoma (Review)

Oncol Lett. 2023 Oct 25;26(6):530. doi: 10.3892/ol.2023.14117. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Yidong Ge^{1

2}, Xiaoqi Ni^{1

2}, Jingyun Li^{1

2}, Meng Ye^{1

2}, Xiaofeng Jin^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Oncology, The First Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315020, P.R. China.
² Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Pathophysiology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Health Science Center, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, P.R. China.

Abstract

Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is a group of endometrial epithelial malignancies, most of which are adenocarcinomas and occur in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. It is one of the most common carcinomas of the female reproductive system. It has been shown that the occurrence and development of EC is closely associated with the interaction between estrogen (estradiol, E2) and estrogen receptors (ERs), particularly ERα. As a key nuclear transcription factor, ERα is a carcinogenic factor in EC. Its interactions with upstream and downstream effectors and co-regulators have important implications for the proliferation, metastasis, invasion and inhibition of apoptosis of EC. In the present review, the structure of ERα and the regulation of ERα in multiple dimensions are described. In addition, the classical E2/ERα signaling pathway and the crosstalk between ERα and other EC regulators are elucidated, as well as the therapeutic targeting of ERα, which may provide a new direction for clinical applications of ERα in the future.

Keywords: endometrial carcinoma; estrogen; estrogen receptor a; regulator; signaling pathway.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the General Program-Education Department of Zhejiang Province (grant no. Y202249882), Fundamental Research Funds for the Provincial Universities of Zhejiang, The Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (grant no. LY20C070001), The National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 31801165) and The K.C. Wong Magna Fund of Ningbo University.