[Expression and clinical significance of autophagy gene Beclin 1 in cervical squamous cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE

Autophagy gene Beclin 1 plays an important role in several types of human cancers. So we, in this study, employed the immunohistochemical manner to detect the Beclin 1 gene expression and explore its clinical significance in cervical aquamous cell carcinoma.

METHODS

SP immunohistochemistry technique was used to detect the expression of Beclin 1 gene in specimens of 81 cervical squamous cell carcinoma, 20 cervical intraepithelial neoplasm (CIN, II - III), and 20 normal cervix. Correlations between the expressions of Beclin 1 gene and the clinicopathologic factors of cervical squamous cell carcinoma were statistically analyzed.

RESULTS

The rates of negative, weak, strong expression of Beclin 1 in cervical squamous cell carcinoma were 43.2% (35/81), 34.6% (28/81) or 22.2% (18/81) respectively, and the significantly lower than those in normal cervix and CIN II - III (P = 0.011). The Beclin 1 expressions did not associate with FIGO stage, age, depth of cervical infiltration, tumor size, and gross type of cervical lesion (P < 0.05), but were related to pelvic lymph node metastases and histological tumor grade (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

s Expression of autophagy gene Beclin 1 decreases in cervical aquamous cell carcinoma, and is closely related to pelvic lymph node metastases and histological tumor grade.