A novel 2-deoxy-2-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT)-based nomogram to predict lymph node metastasis in early stage uterine cervical squamous cell cancer.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to establish an effective 2-deoxy-2-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) based nomogram for pelvic lymph node (PLN) metastasis prediction in early-stage uterine cervical squamous cell cancer. METHODS: A predictive model was developed in a cohort that consisted of 351 patients with stage IB-IIA [International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2009] uterine cervical squamous cell cancer. All patients underwent a preoperative PET/CT scan and subsequent radical surgery between 2010 and 2017, with 241 and 110 patients allotted into training and external validation cohorts. The chi-square (χ2) test and the logistic regression analysis were used to compare the clinical and PET/CT parameters with PLN metastasis. A nomogram was developed and validated by internal and external validation. RESULTS: In the training cohort, 82 (34.0%) patients had positive PLNs identified in the preoperative PET/CT scan. Among them, 46 (56.1%) were pathologically confirmed. There were 30 (18.9%) PET/CT scan-negative patients found to have PLN metastasis. The χ2 test and logistic regression showed that only the squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) level (P=0.039) and maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of PLN (nSUVmax, P=0.001) were independent predictors for PLN metastasis. A predictive nomogram based on these 2 parameters was developed with a C-index [95% confidence interval (CI)] of 0.854 (0.772-0.937) on internal validation and 0.836 (0.723-0.948) on the external validation. Compared to nSUVmax alone, our nomogram showed elevated sensitivity (70.5%, 73.1% vs. 60.5%), specificity (94.4%, 86.4% vs. 78.2%), and positive predictive value (PPV) (93.9%, 86.4% vs. 56.1%) in both the training and validation cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: We successfully developed a noninvasive and convenient nomogram for preoperative identification of PLN metastasis in early-stage squamous cell cervical cancer.

Frequency distribution of HLA alleles and haplotypes in Uyghur women with advanced squamous cell cervical cancer and relation to HPV status and clinical outcome.

PURPOSE: This study aims to investigate the association of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles and haplotypes in Uyghur women with advanced squamous cell cervical cancer (SCC). METHODS: A total of 131 Uyghur patients with advanced SCC (IIb-IVa) and 91 healthy subjects from Xinjiang province were genotyped for HLA-I and II genes using Polymerase Chain Reaction Sequence Based Typing. The different frequencies of HLA alleles and haplotypes between patients and controls were compared and the correlations were analyzed between HLA distribution and HPV status and prognosis. RESULTS: (1) The frequencies of B*51:01, DRB1*07:01, DQB1*02:01, A*01:01-C*06:02, A*01:01-DRB1*07:01, C*06:02-DQB1*02:01, DRB1*07:01-DQB1*02:01 and C*06:02-DRB1*07:01-DQB1*02:01 in cancer group were higher than control group whereas the frequencies of B*44:02, B*58:01, C*05:01, DRB1*04:01, DRB1*12:01, DRB1*13:01, DQB1*02:02, DQB1*05:02, DRB1*03:01-DQB1*02:02 and DRB1*04:01-DQB1*03:02 in cancer group were lower than control group (P < 0.05). (2) The frequencies of A*01:01-C*06:02, A*01:01-DRB1*07:01, C*06:02-DQB1*02:01, DRB1*07:01-DQB1*02:01 and C*06:02-DRB1*07:01-DQB1*02:01 in HPV positive group were lower than HPV negative group, differences of which were statistically significant (P < 0.05). (3) B*44:02 and B*58:01 were associated with reduced disease-specific survival (DSS) (P = 0.010 and 0.007). (4) Multivariate Cox proportional hazard models revealed that age, International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, tumor differentiation and allele B*58:01 as independent predictors for DSS while FIGO stage and tumor differentiation as independent factors for DFS. CONCLUSIONS: In the development and progression of advanced SCC among Uyghur population, the HLA alleles and its haplotypes play an important role. B*58:01 allele may act as an independent predictor for DSS.

Early vulvar and umbilical incisional scar recurrence of cervical squamous cell carcinoma: Earlier than usually expected.

Cutaneous metastasis is considered as a hazardous condition depending on the mean survival around 9 months, which usually originates from cancers of the breast, lung, ovary, colon, and rarely from the cervix. The crucial prognostic factor of cutaneous metastasis depends on the period between the primary malignancy and cutaneous metastasis. We report two cases of the unusual presentation of squamous cell cancer of the cervix that developed vulvar and umbilical metastasis in the 5th month of primary treatment. Both of our patients survived for 11 months following the primary treatment. In addition, our first case is the earliest vulvar recurrence of cervical carcinoma in the English literature following appropriate medical and surgical management.

Acylglycerol kinase is over-expressed in early-stage cervical squamous cell cancer and predicts poor prognosis.

Acylglycerol kinase (AGK) had been shown to contribute to cancer progression and unfavorable clinical outcomes of patients. Our study aimed to investigate the expression pattern and clinical significance of AGK in patients with early-stage cervical squamous cell cancer (CSCC). The protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of AGK was analyzed in six cervical cancer cell lines and four paired early-stage CSCC specimens and normal cervical tissues (NCT), using Western blotting and real-time PCR (RT-PCR). And we investigated the AGK protein expression in paraffin-embedded specimens from 140 patients with early-stage CSCC and 30 cases of NCT by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the clinicopathological significance of AGK expression. The expressions of AGK protein and mRNA were significantly up-regulated in cervical cancer cell lines and cancer tissues. IHC analyses revealed that AGK was highly expressed in 93 (66.4 %) of 140 early-stage CSCC specimens, but in none of the NCT. Moreover, AGK expression in early-stage CSCC was significantly correlated with tumor stage (P < 0.001), tumor size (P < 0.001), and tumor type (P < 0.001). Early-stage CSCC patients with high AGK expression level had shorter progress-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) time compared with patients with low AGK expression levels. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified AGK expression level as an independent prognostic factor for survival of early-stage CSCC patients. We showed that AGK was over-expressed in cervical cancer cell lines and clinical tissues, and over-expression of AGK was associated with poor survival outcomes of early-stage CSCC patients. AGK can be used as an independent prognostic marker for early-stage CSCC.

The value of SCCAg, CYFRA21-1 and TPS in the diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of patients with squamous cell cervical cancer / 中国综合临床

Objective To study the value of SCCAg,CYFRA21-1 and TPS in the diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of patients with cell cervical cancer (SCC).Methods The levels of serum SCCAg,CYFRA21-1and TPS from 160 SCC patients and 60 health women were detected by means of ELISA.Results ( 1 ) The levels of serum SCCAg,CYFRA21-1and TPS in SCC were significantly higher than those of normal group ( P ＜0.001 ).The median values of normal group:0.43 μg/L,0.43 μg/L,26 U/L,the median values of cervical cancer group:1.96 μg/L,2.29 μg/L,149.1 U/L ( 2 ) The specificity of SCCAg,CYFRA21-1 and TPS in diagnosing SCC were both 100％.The sensitivity of SCCAg,CYFRA21-1 and TPS in diagnosing SCC was 53.42％,40.68％ and 83.95％,respectively.The sensitivity of TPS was obviously different from SCCAg and CYFRA21-1 ( P ＜0.001 ).The sensitivity of SCCAg plus CYFRA21-1 and three markers together were 69.23％and 92.31％,respectively.(3)The expressing of SCCAg,CYFRA21 -1 and TPS in FIGO stages Ⅲ plus Ⅳ was significantly higher than in stages Ⅰ plus Ⅱ (P ＜ 0.05 ),and all markers were not related to the degree of histological differentiation.SCCAg was correlated strongly with tumor size,growth type,lymph node metastasis and age( P ＜ 0.05 ),but CYFRA21-1 was not correlated with all these factors.TPS level was significantly associated with tumor size and lymph node metastasis( P ＜0.05 ),but not with growth type and age.(4)A total of 78 patients were followed up.The pretreatmental serum levels of SCCAg and CYFRA21-1 in patients with recurrence were significantly higher than those without recurrence( P ＜0.05 ).The same trend was not found for TPS.Compared with the normal control,the patients with elevated SCCAg before treatment has shorter intervals before recurrence and metastasis occurred.Also,the survival of patients with elevated SCCAg before treatment was shorter than the normal control ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusion SCCAg,CYFRA21-1 and TPS serum levels are valuable markers for the diagnosis of SCC.Meanwhile,SCCAg and CYFRA21-1 are chnically significant pridictors for the prognosis of SCC.

The relation between serum SCC levels and the disease stages of the patients with squamous cell cervical cancer

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic value of serum squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) antigen in cervical cancer patients. Serum SCC levels were measured in 222 cervical cancer patients, and were evaluated by statistical analysis. Results: 69.3% patients had serum SCC level >2µg/L and 25.2% had serum SCC level >10µg/L. The increase of serum SCC level is related to age, disease stages and could be a significant prognostic factor in cervical cancer