objectives: To evaluate the expression of PBK/TOPK (PDZ-binding kinase/T-LAK cell-originated protein kinase) and its clinical significance in cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.
Methods: PBK/TOPK expression was detected in 28 cases of low-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CINI), 62 cases of high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and 80 cases of cervical cancer by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Then, the correlation between PBK/TOPK expression and clinicopathological features was quantitatively analyzed by measuring the positive unit (PU).
Results: PBK/TOPK expression was significantly greater in cervical cancer than that in high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and CINI (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, PBK/TOPK expression in high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia was significantly higher compared with that in CINI (P < 0.05). In addition, PBK/TOPK expression in cervical cancer significantly correlated with histological type, differentiation, lymph node metastasis, vaginal and cervical invasion, TNM stage and tumor size (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: PBK/TOPK expression is closely associated with cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, which may be served as a useful target for tumor diagnosis and immunotherapy.
Keywords: CINI; Cervical carcinoma; PDZ-binding kinase; T-LAK; quantitative analysis.