Prognostic significance of human papillomavirus (HPV) status and expression of selected markers (HER2/neu, EGFR, VEGF, CD34, p63, p53 and Ki67/MIB-1) on outcome after (chemo-) radiotherapy in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of uterine cervix.

The aim of the retrospective study was to evaluate prognostic significance of human papillomavirus (HPV) status and expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2/neu), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), CD34 antigen, tumor suppressors p63 and p53, and Ki67/MIB-1 in squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix (SCCC) treated with radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. Seventy-two consecutive patients with SCCC, diagnosed and treated with (chemo-) radiotherapy with a curative intent at the University Hospital Hradec Kralove between August 1998 and August 2008, were enrolled in the study. The median follow-up period was 57 months (range 5-152). The tested biological factors were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction (HPV status) and by immunohistochemistry (remaining above mentioned markers) from archival paraffin embedded original diagnostic tumor samples. A statistical significant correlation was observed between low expression of p63 and poor overall survival (p = 0.001), although the complete response probability was influenced with borderline statistical significance (p = 0.05). However, the results could be affected by the statistical error due to the small number of p63 negative patients. HPV positivity and EGFR staining intensity was associated with higher complete response probability (p = 0.038 and p = 0.044, resp.). All other results were not significant. Neither HPV positivity nor EGFR staining intensity were reflected in the overall survival evaluation. In conclusion, the presented study did not confirm any apparently significant association of the suggested markers with prognosis of SCCC in patients treated with (chemo-) radiotherapy.