Abstract
BACKGROUND: Members of the SIRT family are a highly conserved family of NAD+-dependent enzymes, many of which (SIRT1-7) play an important role in tumor formation. Recently, several studies have suggested that SIRT4 not only regulates glutamine metabolism, but also serves as a tumor suppressor. There are no studies have assessed its clinical significance in endometrioid adenocarcinoma. METHODS: We investigated SIRT4 protein levels in endometrioid adenocarcinoma and its possible association with selected clinico-pathological parameters by immunohistochemical staining of a tissue microarray that included 65 endometrioid adenocarcinoma patients. RESULTS: SIRT4 protein levels in endometrioid adenocarcinoma were markedly lower than its non-neoplastic tissue counterpart (P< 0.001). Moreover, lower SIRT4 expression levels were observed in advanced AJCC stages of development (P= 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that SIRT4 may be involved in the development of endometrioid adenocarcinoma and is a promising target for both the diagnosis and potential therapy of endometrioid adenocarcinoma.