title: Increased expression of iASPP correlates with poor prognosis in FIGO IA2-IIA cervical adenocarcinoma following a curative resection.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The function of iASPP (inhibitory member of the ASPP family) in cervical adenocarcinoma remains unknown. The aim of this study was to explore the expression and clinical relevance of iASPP in early stage cervical adenocarcinoma. Methods The clinical data of 75 patients with FIGO stage IA2-IIA cervical adenocarcinoma who were treated with radical hysterectomy from January 2004 to March 2008 was collected. The mRNA and protein expression levels of iASPP from the paired tumor specimens and adjacent normal cervical tissues were determined by real-time qRT-PCR and Western blot, and its relationship with clinicopathologic factors and prognosis of cervical cancer patients was retrospectively analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mRNA and protein expression levels of iASPP were significantly elevated in cervical cancer tissues. The increased iASPP expression was correlated strongly with higher FIGO staging (p = 0.034), worse differentiation (p = 0.046), less pelvic lymph node metastasis (p = 0.014), and poor overall and disease-free survival of patients with cervical cancer (both P > 0.05). Multivariate Cox analysis indicated that high iASPP expression was an independent prognostic factor (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates that iASPP is highly elevated in cervical adenocarcinoma, and that overexpression is an independent poor prognostic indicator for early stage cervical cancer patients, suggesting that iASPP might serve as a novel potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target for cervical adenocarcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of TCM Anshanxi Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China.
authors.forename: Fanming
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Department of ICU, Tianjin First Center Hospital Fukang Road, Tianjin 300192, China.
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of TCM Anshanxi Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China.
authors.forename: Huzi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Tianjin Central Hospital of Gynecology Obstetrics Changjiang Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300100, China.
authors.forename: Pu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of TCM Anshanxi Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China.
authors.forename: Jianchun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of TCM Anshanxi Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China.
authors.forename: XiaoJiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of TCM Anshanxi Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of TCM Anshanxi Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China.
authors.forename: Yiyu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of TCM Anshanxi Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China.
authors.forename: Yingjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jia
keywords: Cervical adenocarcinoma; iASPP; prognostic factors; radical hysterectomy