HPIP: a predictor of lymph node metastasis and poor survival in cervical cancer

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to explore the relationships of HPIP expression status with the clinicopathological variables and survival outcomes of patients with cervical cancer (CC). METHODS We compared the HPIP expression of 119 samples from CC tissues, 20 from cervical intraepithelial tissues, and 20 from normal cervical tissues by using immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS It was observed that the ratio of elevated HPIP expression was higher in CC tissues than in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (P=0.017) and normal cervical tissues (P=0.001). In addition, there was an association between HPIP and clinicopathological factors, such as histological grade (P<0.001), stromal infiltration (P=0.015), lymph node metastasis (P<0.001), lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI; P=0.026), and recurrence (P=0.029). Furthermore, multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that high HPIP expression (P=0.027 and P=0.042) as well as the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics stage (P=0.003 and P=0.009), lymph node metastasis (P=0.031 and P=0.017), and LVSI (P=0.024 and P=0.046) were independent prognostic factors. In addition, we demonstrated that high HPIP expression (P=0.003) and LVSI (P<0.001) were independently related to lymph node metastasis. CONCLUSION Elevated HPIP expression may contribute to the progression and metastasis of CC and may also serve as a new biomarker to predict the prognosis of CC.