Abstract:

Abstract:Objective To detect the expression of CK20 gene mRNA in peripheral blood cells of the patients with endometrial cancer,and to explore its diagnostic value of the CK20 gene expression in  endometrial cancer micrometastasis.Methods The expressions of CK20 gene mRNA in peripheral blood cells in 44 patients with  endometrial cancer,34 patients with uterine benign diseases and 32 healthy volunteers were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR).The relationship between its expression and the pathological parameters of the patients with endometrial cancer  was analyzed.Results The positive expression rate of CK20 mRNA in peripheral blood cells in 44 patients with  endometrial cancer was 27.3%（12/44）; there was no expression  of CK20 mRNA in the uterine benign diseases patients and healthy women；the positive expression rate of CK20 mRNA in the patients with  endometrial cancer was higher than those in the patients with uterine benign diseases  and healthy women（χ2=20.204，P<0.05）.The expression level of CK20 mRNA had positive correlation with clinical stage（χ²=16.712，P<0.05）,lymph node metastasis（χ2=6.381，P<0.05） and depth of invasion（χ²=6.381，P<0.05）; but had nothing to do with the pathological grade（χ²=0.229，P<0.05） or whether menopause （χ²=0.004，P>0.05）.Conclusion The   positive expression rate of CK20 mRNA is increased significantly in endometrial cancer patients compared with benign uterine disease patients and healthy female volunteers,and it is related to the clinical stage,lymph node metastasis and depth of invasion  of  endometrial  cancer；the specificity of CK20 could be used as blood-borne micrometastases reference of endometrial cancer.

Key words: real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR, peripheral blood cells, CK20 gene, endometrial neoplasms