Cytoplasmic maspin expression correlates with poor prognosis of patients with adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix

Background Maspin is known to be a tumor suppressor protein and its prognostic significance in patients with several types of cancer has been reported. To date, however, no study has focused on the association between maspin expression and the prognosis of patients with adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix. We explored the prognostic value of maspin expression with particular reference to its subcellular localization in patients with adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix. Methods Paraffin-embedded tissue samples from 46 patients diagnosed as adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix were immunohistochemically analyzed using an antibody for maspin. The patients were followed up for 3 to 165 months (median: 64.2 months) and the prognostic value was evaluated by the log-rank test and the Cox regression hazard model. Results A sample was considered maspin-positive if maspin was expressed in only the cytoplasm; 69.6% (32 cases) of the specimens were maspin-positive, and there was significant correlation between positivity and recurrence (P = 0.022). Maspin-positive patients had both shorter disease free survival and shorter overall survival by the log-rank test (P = 0.023, P = 0.043, respectively). By Cox’s multivariate analysis, the International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO) status was the only independent prognostic factor for disease free survival and overall survival in patients with adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix. Conclusion This is the first report to reveal an association between cytoplasmic maspin expression and the prognosis of patients with adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix. Although further studies with a larger series of patients and a longer follow up period are necessary, the present results suggest that cytoplasmic maspin expression could be an indicator of unfavorable prognosis in patients with adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix.