Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of death among female patients with cancer in the world. Our aim was to analyze cervical cancer cases, in the Southwestern Transdanubian Region of Hungary, with regard to human papillomavirus (HPV) genotype and histological and clinical grading. After HPV testing and genotyping, the expressions of eight different pre-microRNAs (miR-21, miR-27a, miR-34a, miR-146a, miR-155, miR-196a, miR-203, miR-221) in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) primary human cervical cancer samples were evaluated with the help of the LightCycler 480 PCR System (Roche). Statistically significant overexpression of miR-21 (p=0.004), miR-27a (p=0.018), miR-34a (p<0.001), miR-155 (p=0.021), miR-196a (p=0.032), miR-203 (p=0.037) and miR-221 (p=0.017) were observed in squamous cell carcinoma, regardless of HPV status and clinical grading. Significant overexpression of miR-21 (p=0.004), miR-27a (p=0.02), miR-34a (p<0.001), miR-196a (p=0.027) and miR-221 (p=0.031) was characteristic of HPV-positive squamous cell carcinomas in contrast to adenocarcinomas of the same HPV status.
Keywords: Cervical cancer; HPV; clinical grading; microRNA expression.