title: Immunohistochemical evaluation of insulin-like growth factor I receptor status in cervical cancer specimens.
abstract: The insulin-like growth factor I receptor (IGF-IR) is exceptionally overexpressed in many cervical-cancer-derived cell lines. It is postulated that a decrease of p53 protein levels due to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection may contribute to the up-regulation of IGF-IR expression in cervical cancer cells because transcription of IGF-IR is strictly down-regulated by p53. To evaluate this fact in clinical cervical cancer specimens, we checked the expression levels and activated status of IGF-IR by immunohistochemistry. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded specimens obtained by conization or hysterectomy were stained with anti-IGF-IR and with an antibody recognizing phosphorylated tyrosine at its c-terminus. The expression levels of IGF-IR were significantly high in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) III and invasive cancer specimens. Phosphorylation of IGF-IR was promoted in all CIN and invasive cancer specimens, and its intensity was related to the promotion of lesions. Interestingly, IGF-IR overexpression was missing in the basal layer of CIN I and II lesions, whereas it was evenly distributed in CIN III and invasive cancer lesions. This IGF-IR overexpression pattern may be utilized in the diagnosis of HPV infection status in CIN lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama 700-8558,Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuramoto
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hongo
authors.forename: Yi-xuan
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yojiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ojima
authors.forename: Keiichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Seki
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kodama
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hiramatsu