Molecular and Circulatory Expression of Insulin Growth Factors in Indian Females with Advanced Cervical Cancer

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Recent studies have demonstrated an association between insulin growth factor (IGF) andinsulin growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-III) serum levels and increased risk for various cancers. However,little information is available on clinical implications of the IGF system in Indian patients with cervical cancer.This study explored associations by analyzing their expression profiles in cervical cancer cases. Materials and<br/><b>Methods</b>: Totals of 50 patients with advanced cervical cancer and 40 healthy controls were enrolled. Humanpapillomavirus (HPV) and cervical biopsy sample were obtained from all participating women. Circulatorylevels were estimated by ELISA and the tissue expression was assessed using RT-PCR and Western blotting.<br/><b>Results</b>: Levels of IGF-I and II showed significant increase whereas IGFBP-III showed significant decline inall patients as compared to controls. Spearman correlation analysis between IGFs and HPV status showedsignificant correlations. <br/><b>Conclusions</b>: We demonstrated elevated circulating levels and tissue expression of IGF-Iand IGF-II in advancer cancer cervix patients, as compared with controls, with a converse trend being apparentfor IGFBP-III. In future, associations of the IGF system and clinical outcome of cervical cancer patients in posttreatment samples might point to significance in disease mapping as a prognostic marker after validation witha larger patient series.