Expression and significance of midkine and p63α in cervical squamous cell carcinoma

Objective:To investigate the expression levels of midkine(MK) and p63α in cervical squamous cell carcinoma(SCC) tissue,and analyze its significance in the development of cervical SCC.Methods:Eighty-nine cervical SCC patients and 50 leiomyoma or adenomyosis patients treated with hysterectomy were divided into the SCC group and control group,respectively.The expression levels of MK and p63α in two groups were detected using immunohistochemical SP method.The clinical pathological feature in SCC group was collected,and the 5-year survival in SCC group was followed up by telephone or outpatient review.The levels of MK and p63α in cervical tissues between two groups were compared.The correlation between two proteins was analyzed using Spearman rank correlation test.The effects of MK and p63α on the clinicopathological features and 5-year survival in SCC group were investigated.Results:The high expression rate of MK(29.21%) and low expression rate of MK(39.33%) in SCC group were significantly higher than that in control group(2.00% and 12.00%) (P<0.01),the positive expression rate of p63α in SCC group(68.54%) was significantly lower than that in control group(90.00%) (P<0.01),and the expression of MK was negatively correlated with p63α(P<0.05).The differences of the expression levels of MK and p63α in different age,tumor size,differentiation degree and 5-year survival in SCC group were statistically significant(P<0.05 to P<0.01).The expression rates of MK and p63α in patients with age ≥ 49 years old,tumor size>4 cm and low differentiation were significantly higher and lower than those in other features patients in SCC group,respectively(P<0.05 to P<0.01).The expression rates of MK and p63α in survival patients were significantly lower and higher than those in death patients,respectively(P<0.05 to P<0.01).Conclusions:High expression level of MK and low expression level of p63α can be involved in the pathogenesis and development of cervical SCC,and affect the degree of malignancy and prognosis.