High expression of astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) is associated with progression of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and unfavorable prognosis in cervical cancer

BACKGROUND: Astrocyte elevated gene-1(AEG-1) plays an important role in the development and progression of certain types of human cancers. However, the expression dynamics of AEG-1 in cervical cancer and its clinical/prognostic significance are unclear. METHOD: In present study, the methods of tissue microarrays (TMA) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were utilized to investigate AEG-1 expression in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical cancer. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, χ2 test, Kaplan-Meier plots, and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The expression level of AEG-1 was increased from CIN I to CIN III. High expression of AEG-1 could be observed in 61.1% (55/90) of cervical cancer. Moreover, high expression of AEG-1 correlated with tumor size and lymph node metastasis (all P <0.05). More importantly, high expression of AEG-1 was closely associated with cervical cancer patient shortened survival time as evidenced by univariate and multivariate analysis (P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest for the first time that high expression of AEG-1 is associated significantly with progression of cervical cancer. AEG-1 overexpression, as examined by IHC, has the potential to be used as an immunomarker to predict prognosis of cervical cancer patients.