Expression of Claspin in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Cervix and Its Association with p16 Expression and...

Cervical cancer is a preventable gynecological malignancy, yet it remains a significant health burden in developing countries. Hence, biomarkers identified in cervical cancer have significance in understanding the prognosis and reducing cervical cancer-related deaths. Elevated levels of Claspin, a key protein in checkpoint signaling and increased replication, have been seen in multiple solid tumors. The study included 80 cases with primary diagnosis of SCC cervix along with 10 cases of HSIL and 10 cases of cervical tissue with normal histological features. Immunohistochemistry was performed using antibodies against P16 and claspin. Association of Claspin with P16 and clinicopathological parameters of carcinoma cervix was analyzed using chi-square test. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered substantially significant. The average age of cervical carcinoma diagnosis in this study was 55 years, with a significant majority (73.75%) being post-menopausal. The study found block positivity for P16 in 83.75% of cases, indicating HPV-associated SCC. Claspin is a potential biomarker, highly expressed in SCC cervix (88.75%, p < 0.005), significantly higher than HSIL (50%) and normal tissue (0%). Increased Claspin expression was linked to P16 positivity but was not statistically significant. Claspin expression showed a significant association with postmenopausal status and presence of ulceroproliferative growth but not with other clinicopathological parameters such as age, parity, clinical findings, lymph node status, size of tumor, stage, grade, and TILs. This study has shown an increased expression of Claspin in cervical cancer. Drugs targeting Claspin has the potential to increase sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs like cisplatin.