Clinical significance of Wnt-11 and squamous cell carcinoma antigen expression in cervical cancer

The purpose of the study was to determine the expression patterns of Wnt-11 and squamous cell carcinoma antigen in cervical cancer tissues and to explore their clinical significance and correlation with clinicopathological parameters. The expression of Wnt-11 and squamous cell carcinoma antigen was detected in 127 cervical cancer tissues, 21 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, as well as in 20 healthy controls by immunohistochemistry, and the relationship of Wnt-11 and squamous cell carcinoma antigen expression with clinicopathological parameters was analyzed. Both Wnt-11 and squamous cell carcinoma antigen were more commonly expressed in cervical cancer than in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and in normal cervical tissue (respectively; P < 0.05); further, Wnt-11 and squamous cell carcinoma antigen expression in cervical cancer were positively correlated ( r = 0.271, P < 0.05). In comparing the expression with clinicopathological parameters of tumor samples, Wnt-11 and squamous cell carcinoma antigen were both associated with FIGO stage, lymph node metastasis, and tumor size ( P < 0.05), but not with patient age, pathological type, or differentiation. Increased Wnt-11 protein levels in cervical carcinoma samples were associated with a poor outcome in univariate and multivariate analysis. Wnt-11 and squamous cell carcinoma antigen are related to the malignancy degree and metastasis of cervical cancer, and thus may play a coordinating role in the occurrence and progression of cervical cancer. The study indicated that Wnt-11 may be a useful prognostic indicator for cervical carcinoma.