Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 26, 2022; 10(36): 13304-13312
Published online Dec 26, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i36.13304
Serum Spondin-2 expression, tumor invasion, and antitumor immune response in patients with cervical cancer
Ling-Li Zhang, Song Lin, Yan Zhang, Dong-Mei Yao, Xin Du
Ling-Li Zhang, Dong-Mei Yao, Xin Du, Department of Gynecology, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China
Song Lin, Department of Surgery, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China
Yan Zhang, Department of Women’s Health, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang LL wrote this article, Lin S provided experimental ideas, Yao DM and Du X performed data collection, and Lin S and Zhang Y performed data sorting and analysis.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province.
Informed consent statement: All study participants signed an informed consent form before participating in the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Song Lin, MM, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Surgery, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, No. 745 Wu Luo Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China. linsongsl166@163.com
Received: October 19, 2022
Peer-review started: October 19, 2022
First decision: November 4, 2022
Revised: November 19, 2022
Accepted: November 28, 2022
Article in press: November 28, 2022
Published online: December 26, 2022
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Cervical cancer is a gynecological malignancy common in middle-aged and older patients, with a high mortality rate. Spondin-2 is an extracellular matrix protein that involved in innate and acquired immune responses. Herein, we investigated the relationship between serum Spondin-2 expression, tumor invasion and infiltration, and immune response in patients with cervical cancer and provided a theoretical basis for clinical practice.

AIM

To investigate the relationship between serum Spondin-2 expression and cervical cancer-related indicators.

METHODS

Overall, 147 patients with cervical cancer who were admitted to our institution between January 2019 and August 2019 were assigned to the cervical cancer group, and 92 patients with benign uterine lesions and 86 healthy individuals were assigned to the benign and control groups, respectively. In each group, serum Spondin-2 expression was measured, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was determined. Patients with cervical cancer were classified into high or low Spondin-2 groups depending on the Spondin-2 threshold value used for diagnosing cervical cancer. Patient’s clinical data were collected to compare the clinicopathologic characteristics, immune cytokine levels, and prognosis of patients with varying Spondin-2 expression levels.

RESULTS

The expression level of serum Spondin-2 was significantly higher in the cervical cancer group than in the benign and control groups (P < 0.05). According to the ROC curve, the cutoff value of Spondin-2 used in the diagnosis of cervical carcinoma was 25.68 ± 7.11 μg/L. The proportion of patients with Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage III, nerve invasion, vascular invasion, and lymph node metastasis was higher in the high Spondin-2 group than in the low Spondin-2 group (P < 0.05). Interleukin-5 (IL-5) and IL-4 Levels were higher in the high Spondin-2 group than in the low Spondin-2 group. In contrast, IL-2 and tumor necrosis factor-α levels were lower in the high Spondin-2 group than in the low Spondin-2 group (P < 0.05). After 3 years of follow-up, progression-free survival and overall survival were significantly shorter in the high Spondin-2 group than in the low Spondin-2 group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The expression of serum Spondin-2 is upregulated in patients with cervical carcinoma and is related to tumor invasion and infiltration, antitumor immune response, and prognosis.

Keywords: Cervical cancer, Spondin-2, Invasion and infiltration, Immune response, Prognosis, Malignant tumor

Core Tip: We measured the expression of Spondin-2 in the sera of patients with cervical cancer, patients with benign uterine lesions, and healthy individuals. Spondin-2 expression was regulated in patients with cervical cancer and was related to tumor invasion and infiltration, antitumor immune response, and prognosis.