Colony-Stimulating Factor-1 (CSF-1) and Other Cytokines in Human Endometrial Carcinogenesis

The purposes of this study are the following: 1. To further characterize and quantify both CSF-1 and colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF-1R) expression from additional tumor specimens, specifically, tumors of high grade and from metastatic sites. 2. To assay using Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) sandwich monoclonal antibody methodology, CSF-1 expression in the peritoneal fluid and blood from patients with endometrial adenocarcinomas. 3. Using immunohistochemistry, to evaluate the presence of staining for CSF-1 and CSF-1R from additional patients with endometrial adenocarcinomas, especially of high grades and from metastatic sites. 4. To determine the extent of cytokine, specifically CSF-1, but also interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), production, in endometrial carcinoma cells in primary cell culture. 5. To determine the responsiveness of epithelial cells on estrogen and antiestrogen binding, to determine if CSF-1 production is mediated, in these cells, by estrogen receptor binding, or alternative pathways of intracellular/cell-cell signal transduction. 6. The ultimate objective of these experiments is to characterize CSF-1 expression from benign and tumor cells in order to identify steps in the CSF-1 activated signalling pathways that may represent potential targets for therapy.

Sex

Female

Inclusion Criteria:

* All patients undergoing hysterectomy, or who have endometrial cancer, and are under routine surveillance.
* Patients may have received prior hormonal, cytotoxic chemotherapy, irradiation or surgical therapy.
* Healthy post-menopausal and peri-menopausal women.
* A consent form must be signed by the patient prior to study entry.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients who do not have primary uterine corpus tumors.
* Patients with less than one gram of tumor tissue available to procurement.