Comparison of programmed death-ligand 1 expression in adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix in paraffin blocks of patients with cervical cancer.

AIMS: Cervical cancer (CC) is a common malignancy in women, predominantly caused by human papillomavirus. The most subtypes are adenocarcinomas (AC) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), which show various features and treatment responses. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) as Immune checkpoint molecules, play a role in immune evasion. We investigated PD-L1 expression in AC and SCC of the cervix and explored its link to clinical characteristics. METHODS AND RESULTS: The present cross-sectional research was done between 2016 and 2022 on samples in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences-affiliated hospitals in Iran. Histological tissue samples of CCs (16 AC and 48 SCC) were assessed, and clinical information was obtained by reviewing their medical documents. PD-L1 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and we used the combined positive score. SCC cases showed a higher (not significant) PD-L1 expression. The PD-L1 expression and clinical characteristics were not significantly correlated in both subgroups. CONCLUSION: Although SCC cases exhibited higher PD-L1 expression, this difference was non-significant. More investigations should highlight the role of PD-L1 in CC and the potential benefits of immunotherapy.

A Fibroblast Growth Factor Antagonist Peptide Inhibits Breast Cancer in BALB/c Mice.

OBJECTIVE: Given the role of basic fibroblastic growth factor (bFGF) in tumor growth, it has been considered as a potential target for tumor therapy. In this study, we investigate the effect of bFGF antagonistic peptide on the growth and angiogenesis of 4T1 mammary carcinoma tumor (MCT) in BALB/c mice. METHODS: An engineered peptide was injected into BALB/c mice in doses of 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg daily for 14 days. Immunohistochemical analysis using anti-CD31 and anti-CD34 were conducted as indices of angiogenesis. In addition, blood samples were taken from the eyes of treated and control mice and the levels of Interleukin-8 (IL-8) and Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) were measured by ELISA. Data was analyzed by ANOVA using SPSS. RESULTS: The antagonistic peptide inhibited growth and angiogenesis of MCT (P ≤0.05), and decreased the serum level of IL-8 and TNF-α in treated groups compared to the control groups. CONCLUSION: The inhibition of tumor angiogenesis has been considered as an important strategy to halt tumor growth. The results of current study confirm that the antiangiogenic peptide effectively inhibited the growth of MCT, and shows potential for clinical trials for the treatment of cancer in humans.