Expression analysis of the Beclin-1 in premalignant and malignant tissues of the uterine cervix

Background: Beclin-1 is the key regulator gene for autophagy and plays a significant role in regulating tumor cell growth and death. Materials and Methods: To assess the expression and clinical significance of autophagic gene Beclin-1 in carcinogenesis of the uterine cervix, the authors performed immunohistochemistry in 138 tissue samples of: low grade cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) (n=32), high grade SIL (n=22), portio vaginalis uteri (PVU) carcinoma in situ (n=22), and PVU invasive carcinoma, Stage IA-IIA (n=26) (study group) and 36 samples of normal uterine cervix (control group). Fisher’s exact test (p < 0.05) was used to assess statistical significance. The level of reliability of specificity and sensitivity was determined as a possible screening method for detection of changes in the uterine cervix. Results: There is no important difference in the frequency of overexpression of Beclin-1 between the patients with normal cervix and with low grade SIL, in this study. On the other hand there was a large difference in the frequency of overexpression in patients with high grade SIL (18/22, p = 0.008), PVU carcinoma in situ (20/22, p = 0.008), and PVU invasive carcinoma (18/26, p = 0.033), in relation to the control group. High sensitivity values show diagnostic significance in noticing these types of changes in the uterine cervix. Regarding high predictive values, there is a conclusion that patients with overexpression of Beclin-1 gene probably have premalignant or malignant changes in the uterine cervix. Conclusions: The current achievements show that the evaluation of Beclin-1 expression might provide additional and independent prognostic information to predict the clinical course of uterine cervical cancer. It is confirmed that overexpression of these genes proposes with great certainty that there are premalignant or malignant changes in the uterine cervix.

Carcinogenesis; Uterine cervix carcinoma; Beclin-1; Immunohistochemistry.

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