Abstract:

Background and purpose: Previous studies have revealed potential roles for Ezrin in a variety of cancers. Ezrin participates in several functions including cell adhesion, motility and cell survival, and there is increasing evidence that it regulates tumour progression. This study aimed to determine the differential expression of Ezrin between cervical cancer tissues and normal controls and to explore the association of Ezrin expression with clinical pathological characteristics and with the expression of PCNA, MMP-2, MMP-9 and HPV E6 protein. Methods: Retrospective study was performed among 30 cervical cancer tissue samples which were diagnosed in our hospital from Jan. 2002 to Dec. 2006. Ten normal cervixes from uterine myomas were employed as normal controls. Semiquantitative immunohistochemisty analysis was performed to detect the association of Ezrin expression with clinical pathological characteristics, and with expression of PCNA, MMP-2 and MMP-9, HPV E6 protein in cervical cancer tissue and normal controls. Analyze the association of Ezrin expression with the clinical characteristics. Results: The expression of Ezrin was strong and the distribution was diffuse mainly in the cytoplasm and membrane in cervical cancer tissues, while the normal cervical tissues was weak and mainly in the membrane. However, there was no significant association between the expression of Ezrin and the clinical characteristics including tumor stage, histology and grade. Ezrin expression was positively correlated with the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 and HPV E6 protein in cervical cancer tissues, except PCNA. Conclusion: Ezrin was over-expressed in cervical cancer tissues and may be involved in the progress of invasion and metastasis in cervical cancer.

Key words: Ezrin, Cervical carcinoma, Migration, Invasiveness