Clinicopathological Significance of FHIT Protein Expression in Cervical Adenocarcinoma.

Objective: To investigate the expression of fragile histidine triad (FHIT) protein and the possible relationship between FHIT expression and clinicopathological indices in cervical adenocarcinoma. Methods: FHIT protein expression was examined in 40 cases of cervical adenocarcinoma stage Ia to IIa and 28 cases of corresponding normal endocervical tissue by immunohistochemical method. We analyzed the relationship between the reduction of FHIT protein expression and several prognostic factors such as histological grade, lymph node metastasis, tumor size, cervical invasion depth and parametrial invasion. We used Fisher’s exact test for statistical analysis. Results: The FHIT protein expression was positive in 77.5% (31/40) of cervical adenocarcinoma tissue, and reduced its expression in 22.5% (9/40) whereas positive in 100% (28/28) cases of adjacent normal endocervical gland. The FHIT expression was decreased in 14.3% (4/28) of cancers without lymph node metastasis but 55.5% (5/9) of those with metastasis (p=0.023). And the reduction of FHIT expression was found in 34.8% (8/23) of grade II and III cancers and only 6.3% (1/16) of grade I (p=0.056). Conclusion: Loss of FHIT protein expression may be associated with metastasis and poor prognosis of cervical adenocarcinoma.