Endometriosis is a common gynecological disease that affects 4 to 10% of women worldwide and is characterized by the presence and the development of functional endometrial tissue outside of the uterine cavity.

These lesions cause inflammation resulting in various nonspecific symptoms, such as chronic pain, infertility or fatigue. The lack of specific symptoms and the fact that the gold standard for diagnosing endometriosis is by laparoscopic visual demonstration of ectopic lesions outside the uterus, preferably verified by biopsy and microscopical examination partly explain that the diagnosis can take several years.

The aim of the current study was to test and validate an immunohistochemical antibody panel for improved diagnostic accuracy of endometriosis. The expression pattern of two proteins, CD10 and HOXA11, were analyzed using immunohistochemistry on human tissues in a tissue microarray format, comparing endometriosis lesions to normal tissues or primary/metastatic lesions of endometrial, cervical and ovarian cancer. The combination of HOXA11 and CD10 expression profiles provides a useful tool to identify ectopic endometrial tissue and for distinguishing endometriosis from various types of gynecological malignancies and metastases.

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