C-kit Mutations in Endometrial Cancer: Correlation with Tumor Histologic Type

Endometrial cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women in developed countries. Affected patients may benefit from systemic chemotherapy, alone or in combination with targeted therapies if the disease is clinically diagnosed prior to expansion and metastasis to other organs.The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic role of c-kit mutations and comparision with tumor type and grade in human uterine endometrial carcinomas.

Seventy five patients with endometrial carcinoma and seventy five normal controls were studied for possible mutations in exon 17 of the c-kit gene using single strand conformational polymorphisms and sequencing.

c-kit mutation in exon 17 appeared to be significantly different between endometrial carcinoma and normal endometrium. The pattern and frequency of the mutations was also shown to be different between tumors from different stages.