Abstract
BACKGROUND: The local tissue immune status may play a role in the progression of cervical cancer. The aim of our study is to examine the expression of HLA-I, CD8 and CD4 in various cervical diseases and investigate their association with cervical cancer. METHODS: We chose the tissues of cervical cancer, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), chronic cervicitis and peri-cancer tissues, and then detected the expression of HLA-I, CD8 and CD4 using SP immunohistochemistry. The associations of the expression of HLA-I, CD8 and CD4 with the clinicopathologic profiles of the patients were analyzed. RESULTS: The percentage of positive tissue staining of HLA class I antigen in cervical cancer, CIN, chronic cervicitis and peri-cancer tissues were 40%, 95%, 100.0% and 100.0%, respectively. And the percentage of CD8 in various tissues was 35%, 95%, 100% and 100.0%, respectively. The positive tissue staining percentage of CD4 in the tissues above was 45%, 80%, 100% and 100%, respectively. The percentage of positive tissue staining of HLA-I, CD8 and CD4 were significantly lower in tissues of cervical cancer when compared with other tissues (P < 0.01). No correlation between positive tissue staining of HLA-I, CD8, and CD4 and clinicopathologic profiles was observed (P > 0.05). A positive correlation was found between HLA-I and CD8 expression (Spearman's correlation r(s) = 0.913, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of HLA-I, CD8 and CD4 are down-regulated or deleted in CIN and cervical cancer, and they may play important roles in the development and progression of CIN and cervical cancer.