<i>β</i>-Catenin Expression Negatively Correlates with WIF1 and Predicts Poor Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Cervical Cancer

Abstract

Aberrant activation of the canonical Wnt pathway plays a significant role in cervical cancer (CC). However, limited data show the correlation between the cancer clinicopathological characteristics and the key molecules such as <i>β</i>-catenin and Wnt inhibitory factor 1 (WIF1). In this study, <i>β-catenin</i> and <i>WIF1</i> expression were analyzed by immunohistochemistry for 196 patients with CC, 39 with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and 41 with normal cervical epithelium (NCE). Significant overexpression of <i>β-catenin</i> was detected in CC (67.9%) when compared to CIN (43.6%) or NCE (34.1%), <i>p</i> < 0.01, while low <i>WIF1</i> expression was detected in CC (24.0%) when compared to CIN (59.0%) or NCE (58.5%), <i>p</i> < 0.001. Negative correlation was shown between <i>β-catenin</i> and <i>WIF1</i> expression (<i>r</i> = -0.637, <i>p</i> < 0.001). In addition, multivariate analysis revealed that both lymph node metastasis and <i>β-catenin</i> expression were the independent prognostic factors not only for disease-free survival (HR = 5.029, <i>p</i> < 0.001; HR = 2.588, <i>p</i> = 0.035, resp.), but also for overall survival (HR = 5.058, <i>p</i> < 0.001; HR = 2.873, <i>p</i> = 0.031, resp.). Our findings indicate that, besides lymph node metastasis, <i>β</i>-catenin expression may also be a poor prognostic factor for CC while WIF1 could be a potential drug target for treatment of advanced CC.