Immunohistochemical expression of Aurora A and B kinase was examined in 20 normal cervix, 35 cervical intraepithelial neoplasm 3 (CIN 3) and 95 cervical cancers, including squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (n = 76) and adenocarcinoma (AC) (n = 19). Expression of Aurora A and B kinase was confirmed by Western blot. The correlation between Aurora A and B kinases expression and the clinico-pathological parameters was analyzed by statistical analysis.
The Aurora A and B expression was significantly increased in carcinoma and CIN 3, compared with normal cervix. However, expression of Aurora A and B showed no significant correlation between CIN 3 and cervical cancer. The nuclear expression of Aurora A showed a significantly positive correlation with the expression of Aurora B (P = 0.018). The percentage of Aurora A overexpression between SCCs and ACs showed a significant difference (50 % vs. 21.1 % , P = 0.023). However, there was no correlation of Aurora A and B expression with patient survival.
According to our study, Aurora A and B overexpression is a relatively early phenomenon in the genesis of malignant epithelial neoplasm tumorigenesis. Based on the results of this study, it would be interesting to know whether Aurora kinases play a role in pathogenesis of cervical dysplasia and SCC patients.