Expression of ras p21 in the stromal cells of human neoplastic endometrium.

ras p21 proteins have been reported to take part in signal transduction through a cell membrane to the nucleus and they also play a crucial role in the process of carcinogenesis. Forty specimens of neoplastic endometrium, ten slides of normal endometrium and one case of uterine carcinosarcoma were investigated for ras p21 expression in the stromal cells by immunohistochemistry. Stromal cells expressed ras p21 protein in 13 out of 40 (33%) cases of neoplastic endometrium. These cells were randomly dispersed wound the glandular crypts of the endometrium and were also detected in the adjacent myometrium surrounding the cancer tissue. When cancers were grouped by surgical stage, ras p21 protein was detected in 11/22 (50%) of stage I, but only in 2/18 (11%) of stages II-IV according to FIGO. None of the stromal cells immunostained for p21 in normal endometrium or myometrium, however, a single case of carcinosarcoma expressed ras p21 within the stromal cells.