AKR1B1 and AKR1B10 as potential prognostic biomarkers of endometrial cancer

Pušić Novak, Maja (author), Smrkolj, Špela (author), Lanišnik-Rižner, Tea (author)

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecological malignancy with rising incidence, yet reliable non-invasive prognostic biomarkers for preoperative risk stratification and treatment guidance are needed. This pilot study investigated whether plasma levels of aldo-keto reductase family 1 member B1 (AKR1B1) and aldo-keto reductase family 1 member B10 (AKR1B10) could serve as non-invasive prognostic biomarkers in EC. Plasma samples were collected preoperatively from 78 postmenopausal women with histologically confirmed EC alongside clinicopathological data including histological grade, depth of myometrial invasion, lymphovascular invasion, and metastatic status. AKR1B1 and AKR1B10 protein levels were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) in 72 and 64 plasma samples, respectively, and data were analyzed using R v4.3.0. Plasma AKR1B10 levels were significantly higher in Grade 3 compared to Grade 1–2 EC patients; and should be considered with caution given the limited Grade 3 sample size. A model combining both AKR1B1 and AKR1B10 with clinical variables (BMI, age, smoking, parity, hormone replacement therapy, previous use of contraceptives) showed limited discriminative ability for preoperative lymphovascular invasion prediction and is not suitable for clinical use in its current form. Survival analysis revealed that patients with plasma levels of both AKR1B1 and AKR1B10 below the median showed significantly better overall (p = 0.04, hazard ratio (HR) = 0.33, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.10–1.01) and recurrence-free survival (p = 0.005, HR = 0.09, 95% CI: 0.02–0.49) compared to the remainder of the cohort. These preliminary, hypothesis-generating findings suggest the potential of circulating AKR1B proteins as candidate prognostic biomarkers in EC, requiring prospective validation in larger cohorts.

• Language: English
• Keywords: endometrial carcinoma, plasma biomarkers, aldo-keto reductase, lymphovascular invasion, overall survival, recurrence-free survival
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: MF - Faculty of Medicine
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 17 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 27, iss. 17, art. 7639
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-187556
• UDC: 616-006
• ISSN on article: 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms27177639
• COBISS.SI-ID: 290762755
• Publication date in RUL: 11.09.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: International journal of molecular sciences
• Shortened title: Int. j. mol. sci.
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 1422-0067
• COBISS.SI-ID: 2779162

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: karcinom endometrija, preživetje, imunohistokemija, karcinom endometrija, rak maternične sluznice, biološki označevalci v krvni plazmi, aldo-keto reduktaza, limfovaskularna invazija, celokupno preživetje, preživetje brez ponovitve bolezni

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: J3-2535
• Name: Vloga androgenov pri hormonsko odvisnih boleznih: pomen za diagnostiko in zdravljenje

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P3-0449
• Name: Translacijska molekularna endokrinologija za zdravje žensk