Expression of intron 9 in CD44 gene in cervical cancer and CIN and its clinical significance

Objective To detect the retention of intron 9 in CD44 mRNA in cervical cancer tissue, CIN, cervicitis and their exfoliated cells, and to study their clinical significance in diagnosis and treatment of early-stage, non-invasive cervical cancer. Methods RT-PCR methods were used to detect the retention of intron 9 in CD44 mRNA in 30 cases of cervical cancer tissue, 11 cases of CIN tissue, 30 cases of cervicitis tissue and their exfoliated cells. Results The retention rate of intron 9 in CD44 gene transcripts were 76.7% in cervical cancer tissue, 89.8% in corresponding exfoliated cells, 70.8% in CIN tissue, and 60.0% in CIN exfoliated cells, but undetected in neither cervicitis tissue nor exfoliated cells. The relative quantity of intron 9 in CD44 gene transcripts was 1.10 ± 0.12 in cervical cancer tissue, 1.21 ± 0.11 in CIN tissue, 1.11 ± 0.19 in cervical cancer exfoliated cells, 1.17 ± 0.12 in CIN exfoliated cells respectively, but undetected in neither cervicitis tissue nor exfoliated cells. The retention rate and relative content of intron 9 in CD44 gene transcripts in cervical cancer and CIN tissue and their exfoliated cells were statistically higher than that in cervicitis and their exfoliated cells ( P <0.005). There was statistic difference comparing the retention rate of intron 9 in CD44 gene mRNA transcripts (70.8%) with positive rate in cytology (40.0%) in cervical cancer (χ 2 =5.78, P <0.05), but no statistic difference between the retention rate of intron 9 in CD44 gene transcripts (60.0%) with positive rate in cytology (36.4%) in CIN (χ 2 =0.585, P >0.05). Conclusion Detecting the retention of intron 9 in CD44 mRNA in cervical exfoliated cells was more sensitivity than traditional cytology exam for diagnosing cervical cancer, and the techniques was worth clinical application.