Study of Immunoexpression of Autophagy Markers- LC3A And LC3B in Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma and its...

Cancer remains a challenge in terms of a cure. The invention of new modalities targeting various pathogenesis related to tumorigenesis has become the latest hot topic of research worldwide. In developing countries, cervical cancer remains one of the most important causes of mortality in women worldwide after breast cancer. Autophagy is a physiological process of intracellular degradation of cytoplasmic components within lysosomes and has been implicated in maintaining homeostasis. Under altered biological/metabolic conditions such as cellular stress, autophagy plays a vital role in cell survival or death. It represents an alternative tumour-suppressing mechanism to overcome the resistance of many cancers to chemotherapy. Microtubule-associated protein-1 light chain-3 (MAP1LC3) gene plays a pivotal role in autophagy, comprising of a soluble LC3A and a non-soluble form LC3B correlating with autophagy after being recruited into autophagosomes, thus considered as a reliable marker in the detection of autophagy. We have done a retrospective archived tissue study on cervical cancer biopsy specimens to study the immunoexpression of autophagy markers LC3A and LC3B and their correlation with clinicopathological parameters. Targeted manipulation of autophagy will provide therapeutic avenues for designing optimal therapeutic strategies in cancer therapy.