Clinical significance of kinesin family member 2A as a facilitating biomarker of disease surveillance and prognostication in cervical cancer patients.

BACKGROUND

Cervical cancer is one of the most common and fatal malignancies among females, and biomarkers are essential for assisting in its management. Kinesin family member 2A (KIF2A) has been exhibited to be a potential maker in various cancers; however, its role in cervical cancer has yet to be reported. Therefore, we aimed to assess the expression of KIF2A and its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics as well as survival profile in cervical cancer patients.

METHODS

A hundred and thirty-five cervical cancer patients who underwent simple trachelectomy or radical hysterectomy were retrospectively analyzed. Tumor tissues and paired adjacent tissues were acquired, in which KIF2A mRNA and protein expressions were determined by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry assay, respectively. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were documented with a median follow-up duration of 28.0 months.

RESULTS

KIF2A protein (P < 0.001) and mRNA (P < 0.001) expressions were both upregulated in tumor tissues compared to paired adjacent tissues in cervical cancer patients. In addition, tumor tissue KIF2A protein and mRNA expressions were positively associated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.025 and P = 0.010, respectively) and FIGO stage (P = 0.022 and P = 0.015, respectively) in cervical cancer patients. Moreover, patients with tumor tissue KIF2A high expression (mRNA and protein) displayed worse DFS (P = 0.010 and P = 0.046, respectively) and OS (P = 0.042 and P = 0.030, respectively) compared to patients with tumor tissue KIF2A low expression (mRNA and protein).

CONCLUSION

Tumor tissue KIF2A expression could serve as a biomarker enhancing the disease surveillance and prognostication in cervical cancer management.