High expression of human nonmetastatic clone 23 type 1 in cancer of uterine cervix and its association with poor cell differentiation and worse overall survival.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The role of human nonmetastatic clone 23 type 1 (nm23-H1), a metastasis-associated gene, is less clear-cut in cancer of uterine cervix; therefore, we investigate its expression in cancer tissues and its correlation with clinicopathologic variables and survival of patients.

METHODS

Thirty cervical cancer tissues and their normal counterparts were collected to evaluate quantitative nm23-H1 mRNA expression. From them, 16 cancer and 16 normal tissues were collected and added with another 64 cancer tissues to construct a 96-tissue core microarray for immunohistochemical study. We evaluated the relationships among nm23-H1 immunostaining using semi-quantitative H scores, clinicopathologic parameters, recurrence and survival in cervical cancer patients.

RESULTS

Nm23-H1 mRNA expression and H score (median H scores: 2.0 vs. 0.3, P = 0.001) were higher in cervical cancer tissues than normal counterparts, respectively. Nm23-H1 expression was significantly associated with depth of stromal invasion (P = 0.003), tumor diameter (P = 0.044) and cell differentiation (P = 0.025). Other than stage II, poor cell differentiation as well as positive parametrium invasion and lymph node metastasis, positive nm23-H1 expression was significantly correlated with poor overall survival.

CONCLUSION

High nm23-H1 expression is predictive of worse overall survival for cervical cancer patients.