[The expression of c-myc protein in uterine cervical cancer: a possible prognostic indicator]

Forty-eight cases of human uterine cervical cancer were examined for the expression of c-myc protein by immunohistochemical staining. The overexpression of c-myc was detected in 17 of 48 cases (35%), which is consistent with previous reports. The frequency of c-myc overexpression was not associated with the clinical stage. Relapse was observed in 7 of 15 cases (47%) which had overexpression of c-myc (mean follow-up period: 35 months), whereas relapse was observed in only 3 of 30 cases (10%) which did not overexpress c-myc (mean follow-up period: 33 months). The five-year survival rate was significantly lower in the cases overexpressing c-myc than in those not overexpressing it. This indicates that the overexpression of c-myc may be associated with a high risk of relapse and poor prognosis. We also analysed the correlation between lymph node metastasis, cervical stromal invasion and c-myc overexpression, and did not find any correlation between them. These results suggest that the overexpression of c-myc in cervical cancer may be a prognostic indicator for predictive testing.