Correlation of cyclin D1 and cyclin D3 overexpression with the loss of PTEN expression in endometrial carcinoma

Cyclins D1 and D3 play key roles in cell cycle progression. The downregulation of cyclin D3 was associated with phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten-(PTEN)-induced cell cycle arrest. We attempted to determine whether cyclin D1 and D3 overexpression is correlated with PTEN inactivation in endometrioid endometrial cancer (EEC). The expression of PTEN, cyclin D1, and cyclin D3 were determined by immunohistochemical analysis in 105 EEC specimens. Forty-three percent of the EEC demonstrated loss of PTEN expression. Cyclin D3 was overexpressed in only 18% of the EEC specimens and was not associated with tumor grade. Cyclin D1 was overexpressed in 64% of the specimens and was more common in moderate or high-grade tumors (P = 0.002 and P = 0.02, respectively). The overexpression of cyclin D3 was not correlated with loss of PTEN in the EEC. The overexpression of cyclin D1 was much higher in grade 1 tumors with negative PTEN than tumors with positive PTEN expression (67% vs 26%). The overexpression of cyclin D3 was neither frequent nor correlated with the loss of PTEN expression. The overexpression of cyclin D1 was higher in the low-grade tumors with negative PTEN expression than tumors with positive PTEN expression. Overexpression of cyclin D1 is frequent in moderate or high-grade EECs and likely results from multiple mechanisms.