The
insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system is thought to function as a mediator of
steroid hormone actions in the endometrium. IGFs (
IGF-I and
IGF-II) are also potent
mitogens in
endometrial cancer. The
biological actions of IGFs are modulated by specific
binding proteins (IGFBP)--6 cloned and sequenced so far--which may either inhibit or enhance the effects of IGF at the cellular level. In the endometrium,
IGFBP-1 gene expression is stimulated by
progesterone and inhibited by
insulin, while
IGFBP-1 inhibits the mitogenic action of
IGF-I. In this study, we used a quantitative
reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to investigate
IGFBP-1,
IGFBP-2,
IGFBP-4,
IGFBP-5 and
IGFBP-6 gene expression in
endometrial cancer tissues.
Endometrial cancer tissue samples were collected from 20 women (aged 54-79 yrs) with stage I to II well-differentiated endometrial
adenocarcinoma. Samples of normal endometrium (n = 14) obtained from women undergoing
tubal ligation in various phases of the menstrual cycle, and normal early-pregnancy endometrium (decidua) were studied for comparison. In
endometrial cancer tissues, the
IGFBP-1 mRNA was undetectable or minimally expressed when studied by RT-PCR. The mean (+ SD) levels of
IGFBP-2 and
IGFBP-4 and
IGFBP-5 mRNAs in
endometrial cancer tissues did not differ from those in normal endometrium, in which no cyclic variation was observed, suggesting that the genes encoding
IGFBP-2,
IGFBP-4 and
IGFBP-5 are not hormonally regulated in the endometrium. The
IGFBP-6 mRNA expression showed a significant cyclic variation in normal endometrium, with low levels in late-proliferative and early- to mid-secretory phases and high expression in late-secretory and early-proliferative phases. In
endometrial cancer tissues, the mean
IGFBP-6 mRNA level was similar to that in cycling endometrium during the peri-ovulatory period. In summary, a continuous stimulation of the endometrial epithelial cells by IGFs with suppressed
IGFBP-1 expression may lead to an imbalance in the IGF system of the endometrium and trigger an uncontrolled cell proliferation, ultimately resulting in malignant transformation.