Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor and c-erbB-2 oncoprotein in trophoblast populations of placenta accreta.
Study design: Paraffin sections of 43 placental specimens with (cases) and 43 without (controls) placenta accreta were studied immunohistochemically for epidermal growth factor receptor and c-erbB-2 expression in the syncytiotrophoblast, villous cytotrophoblast, and extravillous cytotrophoblast. Epidermal growth factor receptor and c-erbB-2 protein levels were also performed by Western blot analysis. Controls were matched for gestational age in this case-control study.
Results: The percentage of strong/intermediate immunoreactivity of epidermal growth factor receptor in the syncytiotrophoblast was significantly higher in cases (98%) than controls (79%; odds ratio,11.1; 95% CI, 1.3-92.0; P = .03), although strong/intermediate immunoreactivity of c-erbB-2 in the syncytiotrophoblast was significantly lower in cases (35%) than controls (81%; odds ratio, 0.1; 95% CI, 0.1-0.3; P < .001). Epidermal growth factor receptor and c-erbB-2 expression in the villous and extravillous cytotrophoblastic cells were not significantly different between controls and cases ( P > .05). Most immunoreactive bands on Western blots were consistent with the trends of immunohistochemical findings.
Conclusion: The development of placenta accreta is related closely to the differential expression of epidermal growth factor receptor and c-erbB-2 in the syncytiotrophoblast.