ABSTRACT
Eighty endometrial biopsies, were studied and classified into a control group, consisting of 30 cases obtained from normal menstruating women at different periods of the menstrual cycle, 30 cases of endometrial hyperplasia and 20 cases of endometrial adenocarcinomas. All cases were stained by haema-loxylin and eosin and immunoperoxidase technique for laminin using specific polyclonal antibody of formalin fixed paraffin embedded sections. The basement membrane laminin was intact and linear in all cases normal endometrium at different periods of the menstrual cycle as well as in all cases of cystic endometrial hyperplasia. It was abnormal and interrupted in 60% of adenomatous hyperplasia cases and in all cases of atypical adenomatous hyperpiasia. In cases of endometrial adenocarcinoma, there was abrupt fragmentation of basement membrane laminin in 80% of cases and absent in 20% of poorly differentiated unfavourable aggressive adenocarcinoma subtypes, infiltrating more than 1/3 of the myometrium. Stromal laminin was absent in all endometria in the proliferative phase of the cycle while. In the secretory phase the stroinal cells accumulate laminin. Weak stromal laminin was detected in 80% and 30% of cystic hyperplasia and adenomatous, hyperplasia respectively. It is absent in 70% of cases of adenomatous hyperplasia, all cases of atypical adenomatous hyperplasia and in 80% of endometrial adenocarcinoma cases. Cytoplasmic laminin was detected in all the unfavourable poorly differentiated endometrial adenocarcinoma invading more than 1/3 of the myome-trium. While, it was absent in the well and moderately differentiated endometrial adenocarcinoma limited to the endometrium and invading less than 1/3 of the myometrium respectively