Down regulation of miR-143 is related with tumor size, lymph node metastasis and HPV16 infection in cervical squamous cancer

Objective: This study is to investigate the role of miR-143 expression in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Methods: The expression level of miR-143 was examined by quantitative real-time PCR. Human papillomavirus (HPV) genotype was detected by HPV genotype detection kit. The expression level of bcl-2 was detected by immunohistochemistry. Results: The positive rate of HPV was 78% in the patients of cervical SCC. The most prevalent genotype was HPV16, with a positive rate of 42%. The expression level of miR-143 was significantly lower in the cervical SCC tissues than that in the normal cervical tissues (Z = -2.180, P = 0.029). Down-regulated miR-143 expression was associated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis and HPV16 infection in cervical cancer patients. No significant associations were found between the expression levels of miR-143 and age, clinical stage, differentiation or lymph vascular space invasion. And, in cervical SCC patients after treatment with Taxol chemotherapy, the expression level of miR-143 was higher and the positive expression of bcl-2 protein was lower. However, the differences in expression changes of miR-143 and bcl-2 were not statistically significant (miR-143, Z = -0.763, P = 0.446; bcl-2 protein, X-2 = 2.277, P = 0.131). Conclusion: Down-regulated miR-143 is related with tumor size, lymph node metastasis and HPV16 infection in cervical SCC, but miR-143 does not participate in the Taxol sensitivity response.