Expressions of sFRP1 and β-Catenin in Cervical Cancer

This study aimed to investigate the expressions of secreted frizzled-related protein 1 (sFRP1) and β-catenin in cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and to explore the relationship between both proteins and the prognosis of cervical cancer. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the protein expressions of sFRP1 and β-catenin in cervical cancer (n=78), CIN (n=30) and normal cervical tissues (n=20), and the relationships of sFRP1 and β-catenin with the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of cervical cancer were analyzed. The positive rate of sFRP1 was 100%, 70% and 33.3% in the normal cervical tissues, CIN and cervical cancer, respectively (P<0.05). The sFRP1 expression was positively correlated with the stage of cervical cancer and lymphatic metastasis (P<0.05). The 5-year survival rate was significantly higher in patients positive for sFRP1 than in those negative for sFRP1 (P<0.05). The rate of abnormal β-catenin expression in the normal cervical tissues, CIN and cervical cancer was 5%, 43.3% and 70.5%, respectively (P<0.05). The abnormal β-catenin expression was positively correlated with the stage of cervical cancer, lymphatic metastasis and pathological grade (P<0.05). The 5-year survival rate was markedly higher in patients with normal β-catenin expression than in those with abnormal β-catenin expression (P<0.05). The sFRP1 expression was negatively related to the β-catenin expression in cervical cancer (r = -0.557, P<0.001). Both sFRP1 and β-catenin play important roles in the initiation and development of cervical cancer, and both proteins can be used as indicators predicting the prognosis of cervical cancer.