Inhibin beta B: a useful tumor marker in uterine endometrioid adenocarcinomas?

Inhibins, dimeric peptide hormones composed of an alpha-subunit and one of two possible beta-subunits (betaA or betaB), exhibit substantial roles in human reproduction and in endocrine-responsive tumours. However, the prognostic significance and clinical implications of the inhibin-betaB subunit in uterine endometrioid adenocarcinomas is still not defined yet. A series of 227 uterine endometrioid adenocarcinomas of a previous well-characterized cohort were re-evaluated for the expression of the inhibin-betaB subunit and correlated with several clinicopathological characteristics and the clinical outcome. In this re-analysis, the betaB-subunit expression demonstrated a significant association with the patients' age and cervical involvement. However, inhibin-betaB did not significantly affect the patients survival in this large cohort group. However, patients with a higher intensity of betaB-subunit immunolabelling had a slightly worse survival expectation, although without any significant association, suggesting that this subunit might have a substantial role in the carcinogenesis and pathology of endometrioid adenocarcinomas. Thus, the inhibin-betaB subunit appears not to be a useful prognostic marker regarding endometrioid adenocarcinomas. However, further research is warranted in elucidating the possible implications of inhibin-βB and endometrial carcinogenesis.