Expression of RASSF1A gene and its significance in carcinoma of uterine cervix

    AN Jinª²Xia1, YANG Yongª²Xiu1, LI Weiª²Ping2

    1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, First Affiliated Hospital, 2Department of Pathology, Lanzhou Medical College, Lanzhou 730000, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To explore the role of RASSF1A gene in the pathogenesis of cervical carcinoma. METHODS: RASSF1A gene expression was examined by semiª²quantitative reverse transcriptionalª²polymerase chain reaction (RTª²PCR) in 39 specimens of patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma and 12 specimens of normal cervical group. HPV16/18 DNA was detected using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. RESULTS: The reduction in the expression level of RASSF1A was significantly lower in cervical cancer than that in normal cervical epithelium (P<0.01). Lower expression levels were also observed in patients with lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). HPV16/18 DNA was assessed in 69.2% of the cervical cancer. However, no significant correlation was found between RASSF1A expression and patient¬ðs age, sizes of tumors, histological grade, stage and HPV infection (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Inactivation of RASSF1A gene expression is an important factor in the uterine cervical carcinogenesis. ......