Expression of Female Sex Hormone Receptors, Connective Tissue Growth Factor and HER2 in Gallbladder Cancer

AbstractGallbladder cancer (GBC) is a highly malignant tumor with poorly understood etiology. An insight into phenotypic features of this malignancy may add to the knowledge of its carcinogenesis and pave the way to new therapeutic approaches. We assessed the expression of female sex hormone receptors (ERα, ERβ, PR), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and HER2 in GBC, and adjacent normal tissue (NT), and determined their prognostic impact. Immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of all biomarkers was performed in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens in 60 Caucasian GBC patients (51 women and 9 men). ERβ, cytoPR and CTGF expression were found in 89%, 27%, 91% of GBC, and in 63%, 87%,…