The relationship between the expression of Stathmin and tumor immune cell infiltration in primary cervical carcinoma and its prognostic diagnostic value

Abstract

To analyse the relationship between the Stathmin expression and the tumor immune cell infiltration in primary cervical carcinoma (CC), and its prognostic diagnostic value. Cervical tissue samples from 128 patients admitted to our hospital from February 2021 to February 2022 who underwent hysterectomy or cervical biopsy were selected as the observation objects, and then divided into control group (normal cervical tissue specimen, n = 30), cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) group (CIN neoplasia cervical tissue specimen, n = 30), and cervical cancer group (cervical tissue specimen of cervical cancer lesion, n = 68) according to pathological results. The expression of Stathmin was detected by Immunohistochemistry (IHC). The numbers of infiltrated neutrophils (TINs) were measured by the specific esterase staining. The pathological data of CC patients were collected, and the protein expression of Stathmin was compared with different pathological data. According to the protein expression of Stathmin, the samples were divided into Stathmin positive group and negative group. The infiltration numbers, the levels of CD3+T, CD4+T and CD8+T of TINs were compared in each group, and CD4+/CD8+ were calculated. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used for the analysis of the relationship between the Stathmin expression and the clinical prognosis in CC. COX analysis was used to determine the factors affecting the prognosis of patients with CC. The proportion of positive expression of cervical tissue Stathmin in CIN group and cervical cancer group was significantly higher than that in the control group, and the proportion of positive expression of cervical tissue Stathmin in cervical cancer group was significantly higher than that in CIN group (P < 0.001). The ratio of the clinical stage II + III, tissue grade low and medium differentiation, and lymph node metastasis in Stathmin positive group was significantly higher than that in the Stathmin negative group (P < 0.05). Compared with the Stathmin negative group, the numbers of TINs infiltration and the level of CD4+/CD8+ were visibly higher, and the content of CD3+T, CD4+T and CD8+T were sharply lower in the Stathmin positive group (P < 0.001). Compared with the Stathmin negative group, the numbers of TINs infiltration were higher, but the content of CD4+T and CD8+T were lower in Stathmin-positive group (P < 0.001). The 68 CC patients were followed up, with a median follow-up time of 25 months (5–60 months) and an overall survival rate of 66.18 % (45/68). The results of Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that the median survival time of patients with the Stathmin positive expression was 30 months, which was significantly lower than that of 46 months (P < 0.05) in patients with the Stathmin negative expression. Multivariate analysis of COX proportional regression risk model showed that the Stathmin positive expression, TINs infiltration numbers≥55, CD3+<5.5 %, CD4+<4.5 %, CD8+<3 %, CD4+/CD8+≥1.3 were independent factors affecting the prognosis of CC patients (P < 0.05). Stathmin in the primary tissue of CC had a significantly high expression state, which was involved in the occurrence and development of CC, thus affecting the immune microenvironment balance damaged by tumor immune cell infiltration. Detecting its expression level might help the diagnosis and prognosis assessment of CC, and Stathmin might become a new target of CC immunotherapy.