Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) are two important angiogenic and prognostic factors for endometrial cancer. Estrogen is considered to be associated with increasing risk of endometrial adenocarcinoma. We investigated the expression of estrogen-responsive ring finger protein (Efp), VEGF and bFGF in endometrial cancer and correlated the results with clinicopathological features. We measured the expression of Efp, VEGF and bFGF in normal, hyperplastic and malignant endometrial tissues by quantitative RT-PCR, ELISA or Western blot analysis. The expression of Efp mRNA was significantly decreased in the groups of endometrial cancer (EC) in comparison with the groups of normal endometrium (NE) (P<0.05). Expression of VEGF mRNA in the groups of EC and atypical hyperplasia (AH) was significantly increased in comparison with the groups of NE (P<0.05). The expression of bFGF mRNA in groups of EC and AH was higher than that of NE groups (P<0.01 and P<0.05). There was positive relevance of bFGF expression and histologic grade and negative relevance of Efp expression and histologic grade. The expression of Efp, VEGF and bFGF protein was in agreement with the mRNA. The high expression of VEGF and bFGF indicate that both contribute in the angiogenesis of endometrial cancer. The regulation of Efp and bFGF expression during endometrial carcinogenesis suggests their potential utility as a prognostic biomarker.

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