Abstract:

Objective To investigate the expressions of transcription factor Oct-4
 and SOX-2 in cervical cancer and normal cervix  tissue and to explore the possibility of Oct-4 and SOX-2 as the  stem cell markers of cervical cancer.
Methods The expressions of Oct-4 and SOX-2  in 52 cases of cervical cancer tissue and 28 cases of normal cervix tissue
 were detected by immunohistochemical SP   method.The expressions of Oct-4 and SOX-2 in the patients with cervical canc
er with different types were analyzed.Results The expression of Oct-4 protein in cervical cancer tissue(46.1%,24/5
2) was significantly higher than that in normal cervix tissue(7.1%,2/28)(P<0.05);the expression of SOX-2 protein in cervical  cancer tissue(59.6%,31/5
2) was significantly higher than that in normal cervix tissue(10.7%,3/28)(P<0.05).The expressions of Oct-4 and SOX-2 in cervical cancer tissue  were significantly correlated with the histological grade(P<0.05);but not correlated with the age,pathological type,FIGO stage of the patients(P＞0.05).The expressions of OCt-4 and SOX-2 were increased with the decreasing of the differentiation degree,and there were significant differences of the expression frequencies  of OCt-4 and SOX-2 in the patients with different differentiation degrees(P<0.05).The expression of Oct-4 was positively related to the expression of SOX-2 in cervical cancer tissue(P<0.05).
Conclusion The expression frequencies of Oct-4 and SOX-2 in cervical cancer tissue are increased with the decreasing of differentiantion degree of cervical cancer which indicates that Oct-4 and SOX-2 may be used as the markers of cervical cancer stem cells.

Key words: Oct-4, SOX-2, cervical cancer, immunohistochemical, cancer stem cell ,