Background: Cervical carcinoma (CC) is one of the most common cancers among women worldwide and the first cause of death among the Mexican female population. CC progression shows a continuum of neoplastic transitions until invasion. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and cathepsins play a central role on the enhancement of tumor-induced angiogenesis, cell migration, proliferation, apoptosis and connective tissue degradation. MMPs -2 and -9 expression has been widely studied in cervical cancer. Nevertheless, no other metalloproteinases or cathepsins have been yet related with the progression and/or invasion of this type of cancer. Methods: Three HPV18 CC cell lines, two HPV16 CC cell lines and three HPV16 tumor CC tissues were compared with three morphologically normal, HPV negative, cervical specimens by cDNA arrays. Overexpression of selected genes was confirmed by end point semiquantitative reverse transcription-PCR with densitometry. In situ hybridization and protein expression of selected genes was further studied by means of two tissue microarrays, one consisting of 10 HSIL and 15 CC and the other one of 15 normal cervical and 10 LSIL tissues. Results: TIMP1, Integrins alpha 1 and 4, cadherin 2 and 11, Cathepsins F, B L2, MMP 9, 10 11 and 12 were upregulated and Cathepsin S, L, H and C, Cadherins 3 and 4, TIMP3, MMP 13, Elastase 2 and Integrin beta 8 were found to be downregulated by cDNA arrays. Endpoint RT-PCR with densitometry gave consistent results with the cDNA array findings for all three genes selected for study (CTSF, MMP11 and MMP12). In situ hybridization of all three genes confirmed overexpression in all the HSIL and CC. Two of the selected proteins were detected in LSIL, HSIL and CC by immunohistochemistry. Conclusion: Novel undetected CC promoting genes have been identified. Increased transcription of these genes may result in overexpression of proteins, such as CTSF, MMP11 and MMP12 which could contribute to the pathogenesis of CC.

Background: Chromosomal Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) has been applied to all stages of cervical carcinoma progression, defining a specific pattern of chromosomal imbalances in this tumor. However, given its limited spatial resolution, chromosomal CGH has offered only general information regarding the possible genetic targets of DNA copy number changes. Methods: In order to further define specific DNA copy number changes in cervical cancer, we analyzed 20 cervical samples (3 pre-malignant lesions, 10 invasive tumors, and 7 cell lines), using the GenoSensor microarray CGH system to define particular genetic targets that suffer copy number changes. Results: The most common DNA gains detected by array CGH in the invasive samples were located at the RBP1-RBP2 (3q21-q22) genes, the sub-telomeric clone C84C11/T3 (5ptel), D5S23 (5p15.2) and the DAB2 gene (5p13) in 58.8% of the samples. The most common losses were found at the FHIT gene (3p14.2) in 47% of the samples, followed by deletions at D8S504 (8p23.3), CTDP1-SHGC- 145820 (18qtel), KIT (4q11-q12), D1S427-FAF1 (1p32.3), D9S325 (9qtel), EIF4E (eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E, 4q24), RB1 (13q14), and DXS7132 (Xq12) present in 5/17 (29.4%) of the samples. Conclusion: Our results confirm the presence of a specific pattern of chromosomal imbalances in cervical carcinoma and define specific targets that are suffering DNA copy number changes in this neoplasm.

Tissue arrays can evaluate molecular targets in high numbers of samples in parallel. Array construction presents technical difficulties and tissue arrayers are expensive, particularly for small and medium sized laboratories. This report describes a method for the construction of 36 sample arrays using widely available materials. A blunted 16 gauge needle for bone marrow aspiration was used to extract paraffin wax cylinders and manually define a 6 × 6 matrix on a blank paraffin wax block. Tissue cores from 36 paraffin wax embedded premalignant lesions and invasive cervical carcinomas were injected into the matrix using a 14 gauge needle. This tissue array was sectioned using a standard microtome and used for the immunodetection of CD44 variant 9 and interleukin 18 with satisfactory results. This method can be applied in any laboratory, without the need of specialised equipment, offering a good alternative for the wider application of tissue arrays.

Background: Cervical carcinoma (CC) is a leading cause of death among women worldwide. Human papilloma virus (HPV) is a major etiological factor in CC and HPV 16 is the more frequent viral type present. Our aim was to characterize metabolic pathways altered in HPV 16 tumor samples by means of transcriptome wide analysis and bioinformatics tools for visualizing expression data in the context of KEGG biological pathways.Results: We found 2,067 genes significantly up or down-modulated (at least 2-fold) in tumor clinical samples compared to normal tissues, representing ~3.7% of analyzed genes. Cervical carcinoma was associated with an important up-regulation of Wnt signaling pathway, which was validated by in situ hybridization in clinical samples. Other up-regulated pathways were those of calcium signaling and MAPK signaling, as well as cell cycle-related genes. There was down-regulation of focal adhesion, TGF-β signaling, among other metabolic pathways.Conclusion: This analysis of HPV 16 tumors transcriptome could be useful for the identification of genes and molecular pathways involved in the pathogenesis of cervical carcinoma. Understanding the possible role of these proteins in the pathogenesis of CC deserves further studies.

Cervical Cancer (CC) has become a public health concern of alarming proportions in many developing countries such as Mexico, particularly in low income sectors and marginalized regions. As such, an early detection is a key medical factor in improving not only their population’s quality of life but also its life expectancy. Interestingly, there has been an increase in the number of reports describing successful attempts at detecting cancer cells in human tissues or fluids using trained (sniffer) dogs. The great odor detection threshold exhibited by dogs is not unheard of. However, this represented a potential opportunity to develop an affordable, accessible, and non-invasive method for detection of CC. Using clicker training, a male beagle was trained to recognize CC odor. During training, fresh CC biopsies were used as a reference point. Other samples used included cervical smears on glass slides and medical surgical bandages used as intimate sanitary pads by CC patients. A double-blind procedure was exercised when testing the beagle’s ability to discriminate CC from control samples. The beagle was proven able to detect CC-specific volatile organic compounds (VOC) contained in both fresh cervical smear samples and adsorbent material samples. Beagle’s success rate at detecting and discriminating CC and non-CC odors, as indicated by specificity and sensitivity values recorded during the experiment, stood at an overall high (>90%). CC-related VOC in adsorbent materials were detectable after only eight hours of use by CC patients. Present data suggests different applications for VOC from the uterine cervix to be used in the detection and diagnosis of CC. Furthermore, data supports the use of trained dogs as a viable, affordable, non-invasive and, therefore, highly relevant alternative method for detection of CC lesions. Additional benefits of this method include its quick turnaround time and ease of use while remaining highly accurate and robust.