Clinical implication of estrogen-related receptor (ERR) expression in ovarian cancers

The expression of estrogen receptor (ER)α and ERβ mRNAs did not show any specific manner according to clinical backgrounds in ovarian cancers. On the other hand, the levels of estrogen-related receptor (ERR)α mRNA increased with clinical stages regardless of histopathological types in ovarian cancers. However, ERRβ and ERRγ mRNA levels were extremely low to determine reliably. ERRα can bind to the steroid receptor coactivator family without any ligands, and drive transcription activity of the target genes. The manner of ERR and ER gene expressions might show an independent usage of common cofactors. It is speculated that the up regulation of ERRα might be related to advancement of ovarian cancers regardless of plausible interaction via cofactors regulated by ERs. Although ERRα is not directly related to growth of ovarian cancer, ERRα is a candidate for prognostic factors for ovarian cancer.