title: Analysis of human kallikrein 7 expression as a potential biomarker in cervical neoplasia.
abstract: Overexpression of kallikrein 7, a proteolytic enzyme important for epithelial cell shedding, may be causally involved in carcinogenesis, particularly in tumor metastasis and invasion. In this study, we have evaluated hK7 (human kallikrein 7) protein levels by immunohistochemistry in 367 cervical histological samples including 35 cases of cervicitis, 31 low-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, 51 high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (H-SIL), 197 squamous cervical carcinomas (SCC) and 53 cervical adenocarcinomas. We have observed that hK7 staining increased with the severity of cervical disease. Intense hK7 staining was found in 15.2% of cervicitis samples, in contrast to 55% of H-SIL and 68% of SCC. Moreover, 92.5% of adenocarcinomas also exhibited intense hK7 staining. Differences in the expression of hK7 could potentially be used as a biomarker for the characterization of different stages of cervical disease.
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Termini
authors.forename: Paulo Cesar
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Maciag
authors.forename: Fernando Augusto
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Suely
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nonogaki
authors.forename: Sônia Maria Miranda
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Venâncio Avancini Ferreira
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.forename: Adhemar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Longatto-Filho
authors.forename: Luisa Lina
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Villa
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007610:Kallikreins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002575:Uterine Cervicitis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C082472:KLK7 protein, human; D007610:Kallikreins