Background: The diagnostic role of Wilms' tumor 1 (WT1) is well known in gynaeco-pathological setting, since it is considered a specific marker of serous histotype and adnexal origin. Moreover, its oncogenic role has been recently highlighted in many cancers and it has also been regarded as a promising target antigen for cancer immunotherapy. However, the relationship between its expression and prognostic role in uterine cancer remains unclear. We analyzed the diagnostic and prognostic role of WT1 expression in patients with uterine carcinoma by completing a search using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines and the PICOS (Participants, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, Study Design) model through PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases to identify studies that fit our search criteria. The objective of the current meta-analysis was to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic role of WT1 expression in patients with uterine carcinoma. Materials and Methods: A literature search was performed of the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases for English-language studies published from January 2000 to April 2020. Studies were considered eligible if they evaluated the WT1 expression in uterine carcinoma. Results: In total, 35 articles were identified that used uterine carcinoma criteria and provided data for 1616 patients. The overall rate of WT1 expression in uterine carcinoma was 25%. The subgroup analysis of uterine cancer types revealed that WT1 was expressed differently among different histotypes (endometrioid, clear cell, serous carcinoma and carcinosarcoma). Discussion and Conclusions: The WT1 immunohistochemical expression is not limited to serous histotype and/or ovarian origin. In fact, a significant proportion of endometrial adenocarcinomas can also show WT1 immunoreactivity. Moreover, our study suggests that WT1 may be a potential marker to predict the prognosis of patients with uterine cancer, but more studies are needed to confirm its role in clinical practice.
Keywords: WT1; carcinosarcoma; clear cell carcinoma; diagnosis and prognosis; endometrial carcinoma; endometrioid carcinoma; immunohistochemistry; serous carcinoma.