Immunohistochemical expression of estrogen receptor-β in adenoid cystic carcinoma of salivary gland – A descriptive study

ABSTRACT Background: Estrogen, essential for normal growth and differentiation, is expressed in various organs. Though its role in salivary glands and its cancers is not fully understood, numerous studies have investigated estrogen receptor (ER) α expression in adenoid cystic carcinoma. This study specifically evaluates the expression of ERβ. Objective: To determine the immunohistochemical expression of ERβ in adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary gland. Additionally, associations among gender, tumor site, histological type of adenoid cystic carcinoma in the salivary glands, and the expression of ERβ are explored. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 30 samples diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary gland. Histological features of all the selected cases were reviewed from freshly prepared hematoxylin and eosin sections and immunohistochemical staining for ERβ were performed. Results: Immunohistochemical staining of the studied samples revealed that 26 (86.7%) cases showed positivity for expression of ERβ and 4 (13.3%) samples were negative. Regarding Allred scoring, 8 (26.7%) cases scored 6, 10 (33.3%) cases scored 5, 6 (20.0%) cases scored 4 and 2 (6.7%) cases scored 3. However, there was no statistically significant (P > 0.05) association between the gender, site of tumor, the histological type of ACC-SG, and the expression of ERβ. Conclusion: There is a possibility that tumors, which express ERβ may be subjected to hormone therapy by selective ER modulators, which are tissue or cell-specific.