The application of plasma soluble human leukocyte antigen in diagnosis of patients with cervical cancer and its precancerous lesion

Objective To explore the application value of plasma sHLA-G in diagnosis of CIN and cervical cancer. Methods The plasma sHLA-G levels were detected by ELISA in 102 cases with cervical cancer( FIGO Ⅰ stage 32 cases, Ⅱ stage 28 cases, Ⅲ stage 25 cases and Ⅳstage 17 cases; tumor size:＜4 cm 63 cases and ≥4 cm 39 cases; squamous cell carcinoma 78 cases and adenocarcinoma 24 cases;cell differentiation:well 57 cases, moderate 29 cases and poor 16 cases; lymph nodes metastasis negative64 cases and positive 38 cases ), 72 cases with CIN( Ⅰ grade 21 cases, Ⅱ grade 25 cases and Ⅲ grade26 cases ) and 20 cases of healthy controls. The diagnostic value of sHLA-G and its correlations with clinical parameters were analyzed. Results The plasma levels of sHLA-G were 193.6( 151.3-287.4 ) kU/L in cervical cancer group, 48.3( 34.6-57.2 ) kU/L in CIN Ⅰ group, 91.3( 68.2-118.6 ) kU/L in CIN Ⅱ group, 106.4( 73.8-165.7 ) kU/L in CIN Ⅲ group and 45.2( 38.0-55.5 ) kU/L in health control group.The level of sHLA-G was significantly higher in cervical cancer group than that in CIN Ⅰ group, CIN Ⅱ group, CIN Ⅲ group and healthy control group( U value of 8.832, 6.456, 4.017, 9.873, P ＜ 0.05,respectively ). The level of sHLA-G was significantly higher in CIN Ⅱ group and CIN Ⅲ group than that in CIN Ⅰ group and health control group( U value of 4.361,4.892, 5.139, 5.485, P ＜0.05, respectively ).The levels of SCC Ag in healthy control group, CIN Ⅰ group, CIN Ⅱ group, CIN Ⅲ group and cervical cancer group were 0.43( 0.38-0.69 )μg/L, 0.47( 0.35-0.72 )μg/L, 0.65( 0.53-0.81 )μg/L, 0.82( 0.54-1.03 )μg/L and 1.02( 0.62-1.87 )μg/L. The level of SCC-Ag was significantly higher in cervical cancer group than that in CIN Ⅰ group, CIN Ⅱ group and healthy control group( U value of 7.926, 4.877, 8.132,P ＜0.05, respectively ). The level of SCC-Ag was significantly higher in CIN Ⅲ group than that in CIN Ⅰ group and health control group( U value of 6.574, 6.763, P ＜0.05, respectively ). The levels of CA125 in healthy control group, CIN Ⅰ group, CIN Ⅱ group, CIN Ⅲ group and cervical cancer group were 14.38 ( 6.14-21.82 ) kU/L, 15.42( 6.25-23.53 ) kU/L, 21.34( 9.82-32.58 ) kU/L, 25.69( 14.47-38.71 )kU/L and 27.72( 14.29-43.87 ) kU/L. The level of CA125 was significantly higher in cervical cancer group than that in CIN Ⅰ group, CIN Ⅱ group and healthy control group( U value of 7.564, 4.522, 7.429, P ＜0.05, respectively ). The level of CA125 was significantly higher in CIN Ⅲ group than that in CIN Ⅰ group and health control group( U value of 5.871, 5.435, P ＜0.05, respectively ). ROC curve analysis showed AUC for sHLA-G was 0.828( 95% CI:0.768-0.879 ), which was high as compared with the AUC of SCC-Ag [ 0.727( 95% CI:0.658-0.788 );Z = 2.294, P ＜ 0.05 ] and the AUC of CA125 [ 0.705( 95% CI:0.636-0.769 );Z =2.842 ,P ＜0.05 ]. There was no significant difference of diagnostic efficiency between SCC and CA125( Z =0.672, P ＞ 0.05 ). When cutoff value of sHLA-G was 109.6 kU/L, the diagnostic sensitivity,specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy rate were 86.3%, 76.1%,80.0%, 83.3%, and 78.4%, respectively. The levels of sHLA-G in cervical cancer patients were significantly correlated with FIGO stages and lymphoid node metastasis ( U value of 6.085, 4.451, P ＜0.05, respectively ), while there were no significant differences between the levels of sHLA-G and age,tumor size, histological type and cell differentiation( U value of 1.274, 1.956, 1.268, 2.719, P ＞0.05,respectively ). Conclusions sHLA-G can be used for the early screening of cervical cancer and its precancerous lesion. It could also be used as an index for judging progression and lymphoid node metastasis. Key words: Soluble humam leucocyte antigen G; Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia; Cervical cancer; Squamous cell carcinoma antigen; Carbohydrate antigen 125