Antinuclear antibodies in patients with cervical lesions and invasive cervical cancer

Abstract

BackgroundAntinuclear antibodies (ANA) have been found in several types of cancer although the meaning of its presence is not completely known. AimTo study the prevalence of ANA in patients with cervical intraepithelial lesion and invasive cervical cancer. MethodsA total of 205 women who underwent screening for cervical cancer or treatment at the Erasto Gaertner Cancer Hospital in Curitiba - Brazil, were enrolled in the study. Based on their latest cervical colposcopy-guided biopsy results, they were divided into four groups: CIN-I: 19.4%; CIN-II: 24.0%; CIN-III: 24.0%; and invasive cancer: 32.4%. As control were studied 68 healthy controls. ANA was searched by immunofluorescence in Hep-2 cells evaluating the pattern and titer. ResultsControls had 4/68 (5.8%) of ANA positivity and patients with CIN and invasive cancer had 15.1% (p = 0.001). Patients with CIN-I and CIN-II had the same prevalence of ANA as controls (p = 1.0 and p = 0.11 respectively), but not those with CIN-III (p = 0.03) and invasive cancer (p = 0.05). The most common ANA immunofluorescence pattern was fine speckled pattern (38.7%) and fine dense speckled pattern (38.7%); the mean titer was 1:160. ConclusionANA is more common in invasive cervical lesions than in controls or non invasive lesions. To understand the meaning of this finding more studies are needed.