Investigating LATS1 and NF-κB as Predictors of Radiotherapy Response in Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer is the fourth most prevalent cancer among women globally. Protein concentrations of Large Tumor Suppressor Kinase-1 (LATS1) and Nuclear Factor Kappa-B (NF-κB) have been identified as prospective biomarkers of radioresistance in cervical cancer. This preliminary study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of LATS1 and NF-κB levels as a biomarker for radioresistance and evaluate their response to radiation in cervical cancer patients. A comprehensive cross-sectional study was conducted involving 114 subjects diagnosed with advanced stages cervical cancer (stage IIIB and IVA) who underwent definitive radiotherapy. The concentrations of LATS1 and NF-κB were measured using ELISA from biopsy samples taken prior to the initiation of radiotherapy. This study's finding included 114 subjects, with a median age of 53 years. A total of 85 (74.5%) subjects had stage IIIB, while 29 (25.4%) subjects had stage IVA. The cut-offs for LATS1 and NF-κB were 0.02765 ng/mg and 192.42 pg/mg, respectively. Subjects with a higher expression of LATS1 were found to be unresponsive to radiation therapy (p ≤ 0.001; AUC = 32.7%), and subjects with a lower expression of NF-κB were found to be unresponsive to radiation therapy (p = 0.009; AUC = 61%). This study suggests that elevated LATS1 expression may inversely predict radioresistance, while NF-κB expression shows a weak correlation with resistance to radiation therapy.