SOX-2 Expression in Cervical Squamous Intraepithelial Neoplasia and Invasive Squamous Cell Carcinoma: An Immunohistochemical Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51168/mfy24h33Keywords:
Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, histoscore, immunohistochemistry, SOX-2, squamous cell carcinomaAbstract
Background: SOX-2 is a transcription factor that plays a key role in stem cell maintenance and pluripotency and has emerged as a potential marker of cancer stem cell activity in cervical carcinogenesis. However, its expression across the entire spectrum of cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) and invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) has not been fully characterised. This study evaluated the immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of SOX-2 in low-grade SIL (LSIL), high-grade SIL (HSIL), and invasive SCC of the uterine cervix and examined its association with histopathological grade and patient age.
Methodology: This hospital-based cross-sectional observational study was carried out in the Department of Pathology in collaboration with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, B.R.D. Medical College, Gorakhpur, over a one year period (2024–2025). A total of 150 histopathologically confirmed formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded cervical biopsy specimens underwent IHC staining using a monoclonal anti-SOX2 antibody (clone SOX2/1791). Nuclear immunoreactivity was evaluated using a semi-quantitative histoscore (H-score), with scores ranging from 5 to 12 considered positive. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 25.0. Categorical variables were analysed using the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, as appropriate, and a p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: SOX-2 positivity was observed in 115 of 150 cases (76.6%), increasing progressively from LSIL (16.7%) to HSIL (69.6%) and SCC (81.0%) (χ² = 26.91, p < 0.001). A significant association was also observed with advancing age (χ² = 27.28, p = 0.000017). No significant association was found between SOX-2 expression and tumour grade (p = 0.44) or histological subtype (p = 0.66) within SCC.
Conclusions: SOX-2 expression rises progressively with increasing severity of cervical squamous lesions, supporting its role as a biomarker of cervical carcinogenesis and a potential adjunct IHC marker for risk stratification of premalignant and malignant cervical lesions.
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Copyright (c) 2020 Dr. Priyamvada Maurya, Shaila Mitra, Sonal R. Goel, Ankita Kumari, Rajesh Kumar Rai
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