ABSTRACT
To investigate the expression of metastasis tumor-associated protein 2 (MTA2) in cervical squamous carcinoma and its relationship with prognosis. Methods: Immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR were performed to determine the expression and distribution of MTA2 mRNA and protein in normal cervical tissue, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical squamous carcinomas tissues, then its relationship with clinical pathological factors and prognosis was analyzed. Results: The positive rate of MTA2 protein in normal cervical tissue, CIN and cervical squamous cell carcinomas tissues were 0, 30.0%, 73.4%, respectively. The positive rate was associated with international federation of gynecology and obstetrics (FIGO) stage and lymph node metastasis, whereas there was no correlation with the age of patients or the degree of tumor differentiation. The expression of MTA2 mRNA in normal cervical tissue, CIN and cervical squamous carcinomas tissues was 0.437±0.028, 0.737±0.102 and 1.172±0.068, respectively. The positive rate was associated with FIGO stage and lymph node metastasis, whereas there was no correlation with the age of patients or the degree of tumor differentiation. The result of survival analysis showed poor overall survival time in the patients with high expression of MTA2. Multivariate COX proportional hazards model showed that the positive expression of MTA2 protein, FIGO stage and the metastasis of lymph node were independent prognostic factors for unfavorable clinical outcome of cervical cancer. Conclusion: The positive expression of MTA2 was closely related to the development, invasion and metastasis of cervical squamous cell carcinomas. The positive expression of MTA2 protein, FIGO stage and the metastasis of lymph node were independent prognostic factors for unfavorable clinical outcome of cervical cancer. The expression of MTA2 could be used as a potential molecular marker in evaluating the prognosis of cervical squamous cell carcinomas.