High glucocorticoid receptor expression in the sarcomatous versus carcinomatous elements of Mullerian carcinosarcomas

• Published in: Gynecologic oncology reports 2022-06, Vol.41, p.100987-100987, Article 100987
• Main Authors: Kurnit, Katherine C., Steiner, Meghan, Lastra, Ricardo R., Weroha, S. John, Cursio, John, Lengyel, Ernst, Fleming, Gini F., Conzen, Suzanne D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carcinosarcoma; Estrogen receptor; Glucocorticoid receptor; Progesterone receptor; Short Communication
• ISSN: 2352-5789; 2352-5789
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gore.2022.100987

•Glucocorticoid receptor expression was higher in the sarcomatous than the carcinomatous components.•Estrogen and progesterone receptor expression were both higher in the carcinomatous components.•Androgen receptor expression was low overall in Mullerian carcinosarcomas. Glucocorticoid receptor can be associated with poor prognosis among a variety of solid tumors in the absence of other nuclear hormone receptors. Our objective was to characterize differences in glucocorticoid receptor (GR), estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and androgen receptor expression in the sarcomatous versus carcinomatous components of ovarian and uterine carcinosarcomas. Eighteen patients diagnosed with Mullerian carcinosarcoma between May 2009 and August 2014 were included. Nuclear receptor expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry using whole tissue specimens. Receptor expression was quantified using the H-score. Mean H-scores were compared between the sarcomatous and carcinomatous components of tumors using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. We found that GR expression was significantly higher in the sarcomatous components than in the carcinomatous components of the cancers (mean H score 144.4 vs 38.9, p = 0.002). Conversely, ER (3.1 vs 63.1, p = 0.002) and PR (1.7 vs 47.2, p