The Clinical Significance and Biological Function of PCDH7 in Cervical Cancer

Abstract Background: Cervical cancer is a common malignant tumor in women that is prone to recurrence and metastasis. Recently, many people have explored the role of protocadherin 7 (PCDH7) in cancer, and found that PCDH7 is abnormally expressed in many cancers. The purpose of this study is to investigate the expression and mechanism of PCDH7 in cervical cancer and evaluate its clinical prognostic significance.Methods: The expression of PCDH7 in cervical cancer and cells was detected by qRT-PCR. The relationship between PCDH7 expression and clinical prognosis was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analyses. The effects of PCDH7 on cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were studied by MTT assay and transwell assays.Results: The expression of PCDH7 in cervical cancer tissues and cell lines was significantly down-regulated compared with the control. Low PCDH7 expression was associated with low survival rate. PCDH7 expression was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis, cell differentiation, and FIGO staging. PCDH7 can be used as an independent prognostic factor for cervical cancer. Up-regulation of PCDH7 significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of cancer cells.Conclusions: PCDH7 may be used as a biomarker for the prognosis of cervical cancer.