Expression of p65 and ERK1/2 were significantly increased in cancer tissues with lymph node metastasis compared with cancer tissues without lymph node metastasis (P<0.05).
Enhanced p-ERK1/2 expression in infiltrating lymphoid cells was significantly associated with the presence of vascular invasion and lymph node metastases (p = 0.019 and p = 0.004, respectively) and shorter overall patients' survival (log-rank test, p = 0.013).
Phosphorylated ERK1/2 was detected in 58/80 (72.5%) IBDC tissues, and was associated with higher TNM stage and lymph node metastasis, but not patient age or tumor size.
An association of high ERK5 but not of high ERK1 expression with advanced tumor stage and the presence of lymph node metastases was found (P = .008 and P = .016, respectively).
There was no statistically significant correlation between p-ERK1/2 expression and clinicopathological features, including patient age, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage, pathological grade, myometrial invasion and lymph node metastasis.