Molecular diagnosis of endometrial cancer from uterine aspirates.

Rapid and reliable diagnosis of endometrial cancer (EC) in uterine aspirates is highly desirable. Current sensitivity and failure rate of histological diagnosis limit the success of this method and subsequent hysteroscopy is often necessary. Using quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction on RNA from uterine aspirates samples, we measured the expression level of 20 previously identified genes involved in EC pathology, created five algorithms based on combinations of five genes and evaluated their ability to diagnose EC. The algorithms were tested in a prospective, double-blind, multicenter study. We enlisted 514 patients who presented with abnormal uterine bleeding. EC was diagnosed in 60 of the 514 patients (12%). Molecular analysis was performed on the remnants of aspirates and results were compared to the final histological diagnoses obtained through biopsies acquired by aspiration or guided by hysteroscopy, or from the specimens resected by hysterectomy. Algorithm 5 was the best performing molecular diagnostic classifier in the case-control and validation study. The molecular test had a sensitivity of 81%, specificity of 96%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 75% and negative predictive value (NPV) of 97%. A combination of the molecular and histological diagnosis had a sensitivity of 91%, specificity of 97%, PPV of 79% and NPV of 99% and the cases that could be diagnosed on uterine aspirate rose from 76 to 93% when combined with the molecular test. Incorporation of the molecular diagnosis increases the reliability of a negative diagnosis, reduces the need for hysteroscopies and helps to identify additional cases.

Laparoscopic extraperitoneal para-aortic lymphadenectomy in the staging of locally advanced cervical cancer: is it a feasible procedure at a peripheral center?

OBJECTIVE: The study's aim was to evaluate the feasibility of laparoscopic extraperitoneal para-aortic lymphadenectomy at a peripheral center for the staging of patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). METHODS: From March 2009 to January 2011, 30 patients with LACC underwent laparoscopic extraperitoneal para-aortic lymphadenectomy. All patients were treated with definitive radiotherapy tailored according to the staging results. Data on demographics, pathologic findings, surgery, complications, and disease status at follow-up are presented. RESULTS: Patients' mean age was 47.6 years (range, 28-67 years). The mean body mass index was 26.3 (range, 19.1-35.6). Mean operative time was 118.7 minutes (range, 77-195 minutes) with an average of 14.2 lymph nodes removed (range, 5-34). Intraoperative complications were a lumbar artery injury and a bowel injury. No postoperative complications occurred. Mean postoperative hospital stay was 1.9 days (range, 1-6 days). Pathological examination revealed that 26.7% (8/30) of patients had metastatic disease in para-aortic lymph nodes. Two patients with disease at the para-aortic level died 5 and 12 months after diagnosis; both of them developed pulmonary and hepatic metastases. The rest of the patients were free of disease, after completion of the treatment, during a mean follow-up time of 15.6 months (range, 5-27 months). CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic extraperitoneal aortic lymphadenectomy is a feasible procedure, even at peripheral centers, that is useful to identify patients with LACC and para-aortic disease and to tailor their treatment. Gynecologic oncologists are encouraged to learn this procedure and offer it to their patients.

Pure papillary serous tumors of the endometrium: a clinicopathological analysis of 61 cases from a single institution.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinicopathological data and prognosis factors corresponding to patients with papillary serous carcinoma of the endometrium treated at a single institution. METHODS: Medical and anatomopathological records were reviewed in the Department of Gynecological Oncology of the Canarian University Hospital between 1989 and 2006. Only pure cases of papillary serous carcinoma of the endometrium were included. Survival rates were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier technique. RESULTS: The study included 61 patients. Stages I, II, III, and IV were identified in 32.8%, 19.7%, 31.1%, and 8.2% of patients, respectively. Event-free survival rates after 5 and 10 years were 59% and 40%, respectively, with a median time of 83 months (95% confidence interval, 63-110). Relapse occurred in 40.5% of the patients. Overall survival rates after 5 and 10 years were 37.7% and 29%, respectively, with a median time of 55 months (95% confidence interval, 40-70). A univariate analysis showed that prognosis factors were tumor markers, stage, myometrial infiltration, lymphovascular invasion, and ganglia involvement. A multivariate analysis showed that tumor markers, stage, and myometrial infiltration had an independent influence on overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: Papillary serous carcinoma of the endometrium is a very aggressive type of endometrial carcinoma that behaves more similar to ovarian carcinoma than to endometrial carcinoma. Tumor markers at diagnosis, stage, and myometrial infiltration mainly determine prognosis at our institution.

Hypoxia downregulates Ku70/80 expression in cervical carcinoma tumors.

Hypoxia may inhibits the NHEJ DNA repair through downregulating Ku70/80 expression and combined with an increased angiogenesis and altered p53 expression would be responsible for tumor progression in cervical carcinoma.

MVP expression is related to IGF1-R in cervical carcinoma patients treated by radiochemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the expression of MVP in cervix carcinoma patients treated by radiochemotherapy, its relation to clinical and pathologic prognostic factors and its role in predicting clinical outcome. In addition the relation to IGF-1R expression in this cohort of patients will be explored. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty consecutive patients suffering from localized cervix carcinoma were prospectively included in this study from July 1999 to December 2003. Follow-up was closed in November 2007. Patients were staged following the TNM classification. All patients received pelvic radiation (45-64.80 Gy in 1.8-2 Gy fractions) followed brachytherapy and concomitant cisplatin at 40 mg/m(2)/week doses. MVP expression was studied by immunohistochemistry in paraffin-embedded tumour tissue. RESULTS: MVP was expressed in 58 patients (96.7%) and no relation was found with clinicopathological variables. High MVP expression was related to high IGF1-R expression (p=0.023). Complete response after treatment was observed in 50 patients (83.3%). Clinical stage of the disease and clinical response to radiochemotherapy were the most important prognostic factors related to survival. High MVP and IGF-1R tumour expression was strongly related to poor local and regional disease-free survival (p=0.006), distant disease-free survival (p=0.050), disease-free survival (p=0.006), and cause-specific survival (p=0.007) in patients achieving a complete response. CONCLUSION: MVP and IGF-1R expression were related in clinical cervical tumours and confer reduced long-term local control in patients who achieved clinical complete response to radiochemotherapy.

Microsatellite instability and ploidy status define three categories with distinctive prognostic impact in endometrioid endometrial cancer.

Microsatellite instability (MSI) and aneuploidy are inversely related phenomena. We tested whether ploidy status influences the clinical impact of MSI in endometrioid endometrial cancer (EEC). We analyzed 167 EECs for MSI and ploidy. Tumors were classified in three categories according to MSI and ploidy status. Associations with clinicopathological and molecular variables, survival, and treatment response were assessed. All MSI tumors (23%) were scored as diploid, and 14% of microsatellite stable (MSS) tumors presented aneuploidy. MSI tumors associated with older age at diagnosis, non-obesity, high histological grade, and advanced surgical stage. MSS-aneuploid tumors also associated with higher grade and advanced stage. In multivariate survival analysis MSI did not influence disease-free survival (DFS) or cancer-specific survival (CSS). However, when just diploid tumors were considered for the analysis, MSI significantly contributed to worse DFS and CSS, and the same was observed for aneuploidy when MSS tumors were analyzed alone. In diploid tumors, a differential response to postoperative radiotherapy (RT) was observed according to MSI, since it predicted poor DFS and CSS in the multivariate analysis. We conclude that ploidy status influences the clinical impact of MSI in EEC. Among diploid tumors those with MSI have poor clinical outcome and respond worse to RT.

Follow-up after LLETZ: a study of 682 cases of CIN 2-CIN 3 in a single institution.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the importance of resection margins in the risk of persistent/recurrent lesions and to investigate other factors such as detection of high-risk HPV, which could potentially predict persistent/recurrent disease before patients engage in follow-up. STUDY DESIGN: 682 women with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of CIN 2-3 treated by loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) were included, between January 2000 and December 2006. Age, high-risk HPV detection determined by Hybrid Capture II and cone margins were evaluated as possible predictors of persistent/recurrent disease. RESULTS: The mean age at diagnosis was 37.8 years (range 18-73). The mean follow-up period was 39.9 months (SD 25.8). 6.6% of patients (45/682) were lost to follow-up. 64.7% of patients (441/682) had clear margins in the specimen and 20.1% of patients had positive surgical margins (137/682). In 8.6% of patients (59/682) the resection margins were uncertain. Positive endocervical sweep was found in 10.8% of cases (73/682). Residual/recurrent disease was demonstrated by colposcopy-guided biopsy in 13.9% of patients (88/637); 77.3% (68/88) of them developed CIN 1 while only 22.7% (20/88) developed high-grade premalignant lesions or carcinomas during the follow-up. We found significant differences in the frequency of persistent/recurrent disease depending on the status of margins: 24.8% of cases with positive margins vs 11.1% of cases with negative margins (p<0.0001). Multivariate analysis showed that only post-treatment high-risk HPV detection and status of the cone margins were significantly predictive of persistent/recurrent disease (OR 4.1, 95%CI 2.4-7.3, p<0.0001 and OR 2.7, 95%CI 1.5-4.7, p=0.001; respectively). CONCLUSION: The combination of histological examination of resection margins plus post-treatment tests for HPV detection would help to classify LEEP-treated patients into categories at different risk of recurrence.

Serous and mucinous borderline ovarian tumors: are there real differences between these two entities?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical outcome and pathological features of patients with borderline ovarian tumors (BOT) with special emphasis on serous and mucinous histology. STUDY DESIGN: Medical and anatomopathological records were reviewed in the Gynecological Oncology Department of the Canarian University Hospital between 1990 and 2005. Survival rates were analyzed by using the Kaplan-Meier technique. RESULTS: The study included 163 patients. Serous tumors corresponded to 68 cases and mucinous tumors to 91 cases. Eighty-nine percent of patients were at FIGO stage I, 1.2% at stage II and 9.8% at stage III. Serous histology was significantly related to the presence of peritoneal implants (22.4% vs 3.6%; p=0.001), positive peritoneal cytology (35.7% vs 8.5%; p=0.001) and bilaterality (27.9% vs 1.1%, p<0.0001). Event-free survival (EFS) rates at 2, 5 and 10 years were 96.7%, 92.7% and 90.5%, respectively, with a mean survival time of 183 months (CI 95% 172-193). Thirteen recurrence cases were found (7.9%) with a mean time to recurrence of 39.6 months (range 4-140). Overall survival (OS) rates at 2, 5 and 10 years were 100%, 96.4% and 93.6%, respectively, with a mean time of 189 months (CI 95% 179-198). Mucinous BOT were associated with significantly lower OS rates than serous BOT (10 years OS: 88.5% vs 98.2%; p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Serous tumors present more unfavorable anatomopathological characteristics but are associated with better prognosis than mucinous tumors. If mucinous BOT diagnosis is retained physicians should be aware that their aggressive potential is not negligible.

Double strand break repair components are frequent targets of microsatellite instability in endometrial cancer.

AIM: DNA double strand break (DSB) repair is a central cellular mechanism of the DNA damage response to maintain genomic stability. DSB components are frequently mutated in colorectal cancer with microsatellite instability (MSI). We investigated whether DSB repair is involved in endometrial cancer (EC) with MSI. METHODS: Mononucleotide microsatellite tracts of 14 genes of the DSB repair system were analysed in a series of 41 EC with MSI. Among these genes, the microcephalin 1 (MCPH1/BRIT1) has never been tested as target of MSI in tumour series. RESULTS: The most frequently mutated gene was DNAPKcs (n=14, 34%) followed by RAD50 (n=7, 17%), MRE11, ATR and BRCA1 (n=6, 15%), and by CtIP and MCPH1 (n=5, 12%). While DSB biallelic mutations were infrequent, a high proportion of tumours (n=30, 73%) presented mutations at some component of the DSB repair pathway, and almost half of them showed alterations at two or more components. Tumours with mutations in two or more genes were significantly associated with advanced grade (p=0.03) and vascular invasion (p=0.02) and marginally associated with advanced stage (p=0.07). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that in EC, the DSB repair is a relatively common mutational target of MSI and might contribute to tumour progression, and also that MCHP1 may be a novel target gene of MSI.

Microsatellite instability predicts clinical outcome in radiation-treated endometrioid endometrial cancer.

PURPOSE: To elucidate whether microsatellite instability (MSI) predicts clinical outcome in radiation-treated endometrioid endometrial cancer (EEC). METHODS AND MATERIALS: A consecutive series of 93 patients with EEC treated with extrafascial hysterectomy and postoperative radiotherapy was studied. The median clinical follow-up of patients was 138 months, with a maximum of 232 months. Five quasimonomorphic mononucleotide markers (BAT-25, BAT-26, NR21, NR24, and NR27) were used for MSI classification. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients (22%) were classified as MSI. Both in the whole series and in early stages (I and II), univariate analysis showed a significant association between MSI and poorer 10-year local disease-free survival, disease-free survival, and cancer-specific survival. In multivariate analysis, MSI was excluded from the final regression model in the whole series, but in early stages MSI provided additional significant predictive information independent of traditional prognostic and predictive factors (age, stage, grade, and vascular invasion) for disease-free survival (hazard ratio [HR] 3.25, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-10.49; p = 0.048) and cancer-specific survival (HR 4.20, 95% CI 1.23-14.35; p = 0.022) and was marginally significant for local disease-free survival (HR 3.54, 95% CI 0.93-13.46; p = 0.064). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that MSI may predict radiotherapy response in early-stage EEC.

Major vault protein may affect nonhomologous end-joining repair and apoptosis through Ku70/80 and bax downregulation in cervical carcinoma tumors.

PURPOSE: We investigated the relationship between major vault protein (MVP) expression, the nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) repair gene Ku70/80, and related genes involved in the regulation of apoptosis and proliferation to shed light on the possible causes of genetic instability, tumor progression, and resistance to oncologic treatment in patients with clinical cervical cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS: One hundred sixteen consecutive patients with localized cervix carcinoma were prospectively included in this study from July 1997 to Dec 2003. Patients were staged according to the tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) classification. Forty patients had Stage I disease, 45 had Stage II, and 31 had Stage III/IVA. Most patients had squamous tumors (98 cases) and Grades II (52 cases) and III (45 cases) carcinomas. Expression of MVP, Ku70/80, Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R), BCL2-associated X protein (BAX), B-cell CLL/lymphoma 2 (BCL-2), p53, and Ki67 was studied by using immunohistochemistry in paraffin-embedded tumor tissue. RESULTS: Tumors overexpressing MVP (65 of 116 cases) showed low levels of Ku70/80 (p = 0.013) and BAX expression (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, low Ku70/80 expression was strongly related to suppressed BAX (p < 0.001) and, to a lesser extent, upregulated BCL-2 (p = 0.042), altered p53 (p = 0.038), and increased proliferation (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: We hypothesize that an early regulatory mechanism favors homologous or NHEJ repair at first, mediated by vaults along with other factors yet to be elucidated. If vaults are overexpressed, NHEJ repair may be suppressed by means of several mechanisms, with resultant genomic instability. These mechanisms may be associated with the decision of damaged cells to survive and proliferate, favoring tumor progression and reducing tumor response to oncologic treatment through the development of resistant cell phenotypes. Additional clinical studies are necessary to test this hypothesis.

Clinicopathologic analysis of uterine sarcomas from a single institution in the Canary Islands.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinicopathologic data and prognostic factors for patients with uterine sarcomas treated at a single institution, with special emphasis on malignant mixed müllerian tumors (MMMT). METHODS: Medical and anatomic pathology records were reviewed. Survival rates were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: The study included 89 patients: 48.4% with MMMT; 22.4% with leiomyosarcomas; 20.2% with endometrial stromal sarcomas; and 9% with adenosarcomas. FIGO stages I, II, III, and IV were identified in 57.3%, 9.0%, 22.5%, and 7.8% of patients respectively. Event-free survival rates after 2, 5, and 10 years were 70%, 61%, and 55% respectively, with a median time of 90 months (95% CI, 41-140 months). Overall survival rates after 2, 5, and 10 years were 50%, 45%, and 39% respectively, with a median time of 43 months (95% CI, 3-83 months). Multivariate analysis showed that stage, histology, tumor size, and parity had an independent influence on overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: MMMT are the most aggressive tumors and their behavior strongly resembles that of high-grade endometrial adenocarcinoma. Prognostic factors affecting survival were stage, histology, tumor size, and parity.

IGF-1R expression in localized cervical carcinoma patients treated by radiochemotherapy.

PURPOSE: To assess the expression of IGF-1R in cervix carcinoma patients treated by radiotherapy and concomitant chemotherapy, its relation to clinical and pathologic prognostic factors and its role in predicting clinical outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty consecutive patients suffering from localized cervix carcinoma were prospectively included in this study from July 1999 to December 2003. Follow-up was closed in March 2006. Patients were staged following the TNM classification. All patients were referred to pelvic radiation up to doses of 45-64.80 Gy in 1.8-2 Gy fractions followed brachytherapy treatment. External radiotherapy boost was used in one patient not receiving brachytherapy (total dose up to 64.80 Gy). All patients received concomitant cisplatin at 40 mg/m(2)/week doses during pelvic radiation. IGF-1R expression was studied by immunohistochemistry in paraffin-embedded tumor tissue. RESULTS: IGF-1R was expressed in 56 patients (93.7%) and no relation was found with clinicopathological variables. Complete response after treatment was observed in 50 patients (83.3%). Clinical stage of the disease and clinical response to radiotherapy were the most important prognostic factors related to survival. Low (negative and fairly) IGF-1R tumor expression was correlated to better long-term Local and Regional Disease Free Survival (p=0.045), Disease-Free Survival (p=0.045), Cause-Specific Survival (p=0.032) and Overall Survival (p=0.021) in patients achieving a complete response. CONCLUSION: High IGF-1R expression is related with reduced long-term local control due to tumor disease radiochemoresistance in patients who initially respond to definitive radiotherapy and concomitant chemotherapy.

Results of the national survey of borderline ovarian tumors in Spain.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective multi-center analysis of women diagnosed with borderline ovarian tumor and treated between January 1990 and December 1997. A national survey was conducted, in which 457 patients from 27 centers corresponding to ten of Spain's autonomous communities were analyzed. RESULTS: Four hundred fifty-seven women with borderline ovarian tumor were analyzed. The mean age of patients was 45.5+/-16.9 years. Of these, 390 patients (85.3%) were at stage I, 8 (1.8%) were at stage II and 36 (7.9%) at stage III. A bilateral tumor was observed in 63 women (13.8%). The mean tumor size was 14.2 cm and in 88 cases (19.3%) the tumor was on the surface of the ovary. Microinvasion was observed in 25 (5.5%) cases, and 29 women (6.3%) showed a micropapillary pattern. Study of the factors related to the appearance of peritoneal implants revealed positive tumor markers (OR 15.02: 1.9-32.9) and a tumor on the ovarian surface (OR 8.0: 1.8-127) to be independent risk factors. With respect to recurrence, the presence of peritoneal implants at the time of initial surgery (OR 3.4: 1.1-10.4) and signs of microinvasion in the anatomicopathological study (OR 5.5: 1.5-17.8) were found to be independent risk factors. The overall survival rate in our series was 97% with a mean follow-up of 88.3 months. The survival rate by stage was 97% for stage I, 100% for stage II and 97% for stage III. CONCLUSIONS: Although borderline ovarian tumors have an excellent prognosis, they are not exempt from a risk of recurrence. Characterization of patients with borderline ovarian tumor is essential in order to prevent their evolution. Likewise, the taking on board of risk factors will enable more selective treatments to be offered in each case.

The relationship between microsatellite instability and PTEN gene mutations in endometrial cancer.

Microsatellite instability (MSI) and mutations in the PTEN gene are among the molecular alterations involved in endometrial carcinogenesis. There is conflicting information regarding to their role in this type of tumor. For this reason, we have studied both molecular lesions in a large population-based series of 205 patients with sporadic endometrial cancer. MSI was found in 41 (20.0%) of the tumors and PTEN mutations were found in 74 (36.1%). There were differences in genotype between tumors with and without MSI. Tumors with MSI showed both a higher frequency of PTEN mutations (58.5% vs. 30.4%) (p=0.002, Fisher's exact test) and a higher number of insertions or deletions (I/D) of one nucleotide within the mononucleotide tracts of the PTEN gene (45.8% vs. 11.4% out of all I/D, p=0.005). Conversely, G:C to A:T transitions in CpG dinucleotides were found mostly in microsatellite stable tumors (57.7% vs. 18.2% out of all single-base substitutions, p=0.037). Overall, 67.6% of tumors with mutated PTEN exhibited multiple mutations or allelic imbalance (AI). Multiple PTEN mutations in the same tumor were more frequent in tumors with MSI (60% vs. 25.7%); by contrast the presence of AI accompanying PTEN mutation was higher in microsatellite stable tumors (74.3% vs. 40%) (p=0.028). In addition, patients with both genetic alterations were diagnosed at more advanced stage of progression (54.2% for MSI vs. 20.0% for MSS, p=0.006), and exhibited a worse prognosis (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval]: 3.0 [1.1-13.1], p=0.034, log-rank test) than patients with only the PTEN gene mutated. Our data suggest that the DNA mismatch repair system status influences: (i) both the frequency and the mutational spectrum of PTEN; (ii) the nature of one of the hits that inactivate this tumor-suppressor gene; and (iii) the clinical condition and behavior of the patients.

Successful term delivery following conservative management for villoglandular papillary adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Villoglandular papillary adenocarcinoma (VPA) is a rare subtype of adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix. A conservative surgical approach is considered feasible. Only three cases of VPA and pregnancy have been reported. CASE: A 34-year-old asymptomatic woman was diagnosed of a well-differentiated VPA without extracervical spread of the disease. A cold knife conization was performed. Five years later, the patient became pregnant. The pregnancy developed without complications and was finished with a caesarean delivery, due to nonreassuring fetal status. A healthy child was born. Last control 8 years later showed no evidence of disease. CONCLUSIONS: A successful pregnancy can be completed in patients with VPA without lymph-vascular invasion treated in a conservative way. This management is particularly desirable in young women to preserve reproductive capability.

Alleles with short CAG and GGN repeats in the androgen receptor gene are associated with benign endometrial cancer.

The human androgen receptor (AR) gene possesses 2 trinucleotide repeats of CAG and GGN in exon 1. The CAG repeat corresponds to a polyglutamine tract in the N-terminal region of the receptor, that affects its transcriptional efficiency. The GGN repeat codifies for a polyglycine tract, and affects the amount of the AR protein transcribed. The endometrium contains ARs and the androgens have antiproliferative properties in cultured endometrial cancer (EC) cells. Larger CAG repeats of the AR gene give rise to a weaker transcriptional activity and have been found to be associated with endometrial carcinogenesis. The possible involvement of CAG and GGN tracts in the progression of EC is unknown. To study that possibility, we have genotyped both CAG and GGN polymorphisms of the AR gene in tumor tissue genomic DNA from a series of 204 consecutive patients with EC, and analyzed the results with regard to the pathological features and clinical outcome of patients. We classified the alleles as S (short median). The genotype with both S-CAG repeat alleles (SS-CAG) was more common in patients diagnosed at an early stage (41.6% SS-CAG vs 22.6% SL- and LL-CAG together, p = 0.048) and in tumors that did not invade the vascular space (43.0% SS-CAG vs 26.4% SL- and LL-CAG together, p = 0.034). The genotype with SS-GGN alleles was more common in well-differentiated tumors (41.2% SS-GGN vs 25.2% LS- and LL-GGN together, p = 0.017) and in endometrioid histological subtype tumors (35.3% SS-GGN vs 13.0% SL- and LL-GGN together, p = 0.034). When the genotypes of both repeats coexisting in each tumor specimen were taken into consideration, the relationship between the SS-CAG genotype and early stage remained only in the presence of the SS-GGN genotype (43.9% vs 0%, p = 0.01). No other associations were observed. In univariate survival analysis, patients with short alleles of both repeats (SS-CAG and SS-GGN genotypes simultaneously) had a lower risk of cancer-specific death (p = 0.032, mean follow-up: 63 months). Our data suggests that short CAG or GGN repeats of the AR gene are associated with a more benign condition of traditional prognostic variables in EC.