The Expression Of Maspin And Upa,MVD And Their Relation In The Squamous Carcinoma Of The Cervix

Objective: We studied maspin protein and uPA,MVD expression and their relevancy in tumorigenesis and progression of squamous carcinoma of the cervix and to expore its relevant molecular mechanisms.Methods: Paraffin-embedded tissues from normal epithelium (n=30), cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)(n=30), cancer of the cervix (n=85)were studied for maspin expressiong by immuno histochemistry. Microvessel density(MVD)in cervical cancer was labeled using anti-CD34 antibody. Maspin expression was comparede with clinical parameters and MVD of tumors. uPA expression were also detected in cervical carcinoma by immunohistochemistry. The relationship between uPA and maspin expression was concerned as well.Results: The positive rates of maspin expression were 86.7% (26/30),63.3% (19/30) and 36.5% (31/85) in normal epithelium, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cancer of the cervix, respectiyely. Maspin expression showed a significantly negative association with FIGO staging, lymph node metastasis and differentiation (P＜0.01), but not with histological typus or patients' age. The positive rate of uPA and MVD expression were significantly higher in cancer of the cervix than in normal epithelium and CIN (P＜0.01). We found that high uPA and MVD expression were as well associated withlymph node metastasis and differentiation, but not with histological typus or patients' age, and FIGO staging was associated with high uPA expression but not with high MVD expression. It was noteworthy that maspin expression was negatively correlated with uPA and MVD. More importantly, we showed that higher maspin expression was significantly associated with better rates of overall survival.Conclusion: In the progress of cervical carcinoma growth, maspin expression is down-regulated, uPA and MVD expression is up-regulated. Reduced expression of maspin contributes to progression of cervical carcinoma probably by inhibiting cell adhesion, enhancing cell mobility, decreasing facilitating angiogenesis. Additionally differentiation altered of maspin underlies the molecular mechanism of cervical carcinoma and supports the different histogenetic pathways of intestinal and diffuse cervical carcinoma. Maspin expression can be considered as an effective and objective marker to reveal biological behaviors of cervical carcinoma.