Evaluation of the Ki-67 Proliferation Index and Urocortin Expression in Women with Ovarian Endometriomas.

OBJECTIVE The reasons why endometriosis is more aggressive and invasive in some patients are unknown. Despite the importance of population-based clinically defined risk factors in the prediction of recurrence, biochemical markers obtained from the patient are more valuable for prediction on an individual basis. Therefore, the discovery of significant potential biomarkers could be useful to clinicians for shedding light on the pathogenesis of endometriosis and in the monitoring recurrence. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study included 50 patients who underwent surgery for ovarian cysts that were diagnosed as endometrioma. The age of the patients, stage of the endometriosis, diameter and localization of endometriomas, type of surgery, and pre- and postoperative cancer antigen 125 (CA125) levels were compared between patients with and without recurrence. The archived pathology slides were stained with Ki-67 and anti-urocortin antibodies for reevaluation. By comparing the pathology parameters of the patients with and without recurrence, the association between these parameters and recurrence was investigated. RESULTS The median Ki-67 proliferation index of the patients with recurrence (7.5±6.5) was statistically significant compared with that of the patients without recurrence (1±4) (p=0.003). The urocortin epithelial staining intensity and percentage were not found to be statistically significant in comparison. A statistically significant difference was determined between postoperative CA125 median levels of patients without recurrence (10±17.6) and those of patients with recurrence (29.9±18.1) (p=0.003). CONCLUSION The Ki-67 proliferation index may be useful for predicting prognosis and recurrence risk.