Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlations between the expressions of proto-oncogenes C-myc and B-cell-specific Moloney leukemia virus integration site-1 (BMI-1), vaginal microecology, and human papillomavirus-DNA (HPV-DNA) load in patients with different cervical lesions. METHODS: A total of 51 patients with cervix squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC), 72 patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and 50 patients with normal cervix (NC) who were diagnosed or admitted between Jan. 1(st) 2020 and Dec. 31(st) 2022 at the Suzhou Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine were selected and divided into three groups, i.e., the CSCC group, the CIN group and the NC group, for a retrospective analysis. Hybrid capture 2 (hc2) was used to detect the HPV-DNA load in each group. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect C-myc and BMI-1 expressions in each group. The indicators of vaginal microecology in patients were compared among groups to analyze the correlations between C-myc, BMI-1 expressions, vaginal microecology and HPV-DNA load. RESULTS: The HPV-DNA load and expression levels of positive C-myc and BMI-1 in the CSCC group were all higher than those of the CIN and NC groups (P<0.05). The detection rate of lactobacillus in the CSCC group was lower than that of the CIN and NC groups. The percentages of leukocyte esterase (LE) positivity and pH ≥4.6 were higher in the CSCC group than those in the CIN and NC groups (P<0.05). The difference in the detection rate of spores among the three groups was not significant (P>0.05). Both C-myc and BMI-1 scores were positively correlated with HPV-DNA load in the 173 samples. CONCLUSION: The proto-oncogenes C-myc and BMI-1 were highly expressed in the cervical tissues of CIN and CSCC patients, whose vaginal microecology was also altered. Both may play an important role in the progression of cervical lesions.