The Increased PTK7 Expression Is a Malignant Factor in Cervical Cancer.

ABSTRACT

Cervical cancer is one of the most common malignant neoplasms in gynecology. Protein tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7) with an inactive kinase domain is an important regulator of multiple Wnt pathways under normal and various pathological conditions and overexpressed in various tumors; however, the clinical and biological significance of PTK7 in cervical cancer is still unknown. In the present study, the protein expression level of PTK7 was detected in clinical cervical cancer patient samples, and the relationship between PTK7 expression and clinicopathological features was analyzed. In addition, the Kaplan-Meier method was performed to estimate the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of patients to investigate the clinicopathological significance of PTK7 expression. Functional assays demonstrated that knocking down PTK7 might inhibit the ability of cancer cells to proliferate and invade or migrate, both in vivo and in vitro. Thus, PTK7 might serve as a potential target for cervical cancer.