Prognostic and Clinicopathological Evaluation of NOTCH-1 Expression in Endometrial Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND

OBJECTIVE

Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is the most common gynecologic malignancy. NOTCH-1, a transmembrane receptor involved in cell fate regulation, may act as an oncogene or tumor suppressor depending on context. Although NOTCH signaling is implicated in many cancers, its role in EC remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between NOTCH-1 protein expression and a wide range of clinicopathological and immunohistochemical parameters, as well as its prognostic significance in EC.

METHODS

A total of 259 patients with EC were retrospectively analyzed. Immunohistochemical staining for NOTCH-1 was performed on tumor tissue sections. Associations between NOTCH-1 expression and clinicopathological features (age, tumor grade, FIGO stage, and invasion patterns) and immunohistochemical markers (ER, PR, p53, Ki-67, PTEN, CerbB2, and MSI) were evaluated.

RESULTS

NOTCH-1 expression was positive in 37 (14.3%) cases. No significant association was found between NOTCH-1 expression and age, tumor grade, FIGO stage, or invasion-related parameters. However, PR positivity ( P =0.01) and high p53 expression ( P =0.01) were significantly more frequent in the NOTCH-1 positive group. There were no significant correlations with ER, Ki-67, PTEN, MSI, or CerbB2.

CONCLUSION

NOTCH-1 expression was not associated with key clinicopathological or survival parameters in this cohort. While some molecular correlations were observed, NOTCH-1 does not appear to have strong prognostic utility in EC. Further research integrating molecular classification and long-term follow-up is needed to clarify its potential role in tumor biology.