High expression of flotillin-2 is associated with poor clinical survival in cervical carcinoma.

AIMS To investigate the expression and clinical significance of flotillin-2 (FLOT2) in cervical cancer (CC). METHODS We examined FLOT2 mRNA levels in 10 pairs of cervical cancer and adjacent normal tissues. Immunohistochemistry was performed to analyze FLOT2 protein expression in 115 archived cervical cancer samples. The association between FLOT2 levels, clinicopathologic factors and prognosis was analyzed statistically as well. RESULTS The cancer tissues of CC patients had clearly increased expression of FLOT2 at mRNA level as compared to adjacent nontumorous tissues. Survival analysis of CC patients indicated that FLOT2 expression was significantly associated with poor overall and local recurrence-free survival (P = 0.025 and P = 0.028, respectively). Moreover, FLOT2 expression was significantly correlated with clinical stage, tumor differentiation, and lymph nodes metastasis. Multivariate analysis revealed that FLOT2 expression was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival in CC patients. CONCLUSION FLOT2 may serve as an oncogene in the development of CC, and may serve as a clinicopathologic biomarker for prognosis in CC patients.