Overexpression of c-Met in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to evaluate the significance of the c-Met / Hepatocyte Growth Factor Receptor (HGFR) expression in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Twenty-one patients from two types of cervical intraepithelial neoplasias (LSIL and HSIL), diagnosed in our clinic were studied with c-Met immunohistochemistry. Of the 21 cases, five were diagnosed as LSIL and 16 as HSIL. Normal cervical mucosas from five patients were studied with c-Met as control cases. Overexpression of c-Met was found in all five of LSIL specimens. C-Met overexpression was observed in 11 cases of HSIL. No c-Met overexpression was seen in any of the five control cases. These results revealed that c-Met oncogene overexpression is an important parameter in cervical early oncogenesis and may have a role in malignant transformation of cervical epithelial cells.