The roles of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) in endometrial carcinoma

Abstract Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is a group of endometrial epithelial malignancies, most of which are adenocarcinomas and occur in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. It is one of the most common carcinomas of the female reproductive system, with a mortality rate only after to ovarian and cervical cancer. Existing studies have shown that the occurrence and development of EC is closely related to estrogen (E2) and estrogen receptor, especially estrogen receptor alpha (ERα). ERα, as a key nuclear transcriptional factor, is mainly an oncogenic factor in EC. Its interaction with upstream, co-regulators and downstream is important in the proliferation, metastasis, invasion and anti-apoptosis of EC. In this review, the structure of ERα and the regulation of ERα in multiple dimensions are described. In addition, the classical E2/ERα signaling pathway and the crosstalk between ERα and other EC regulators are elucidated, as well as a therapeutic target of ERα, which may provide a new direction for clinical applications of ERα in the future.