SPARC promotes malignant progression and predicts poor prognosis in cervical squamous cell carcinoma

Qingge Jia; Mingyang Li; Yannan Ma; Jin Liu; Qing Jia; Qin Zhang; Cong Li; Ligang Chen; Hailin Wang; Dongmei Zhou; Xinyuan Yang

doi:10.1016/j.prp.2025.156096

SPARC promotes malignant progression and predicts poor prognosis in cervical squamous cell carcinoma

Pathol Res Pract. 2025 Jun 28:272:156096. doi: 10.1016/j.prp.2025.156096. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Qingge Jia¹, Mingyang Li², Yannan Ma³, Jin Liu², Qing Jia⁴, Qin Zhang³, Cong Li³, Ligang Chen⁵, Hailin Wang⁶, Dongmei Zhou⁷, Xinyuan Yang⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China; Department of Reproductive Medicine, Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital, Northwest University, Xi'an, China.
² Department of Pathology, Xijing Hospital and School of Basic Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital, Northwest University, Xi'an, China.
⁴ Office of the Dean, Pulmonary Hospital of Lanzhou, Lanzhou, China.
⁵ Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital of Northern Theater Command, Shenyang, China. Electronic address: clg201820271@126.com.
⁶ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital, Northwest University, Xi'an, China. Electronic address: wanghailinyx@163.com.
⁷ Department of Reproductive Medicine, Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital, Northwest University, Xi'an, China. Electronic address: 46790730@qq.com.
⁸ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China. Electronic address: m18991232845@163.com.

PMID: 40602333
DOI: 10.1016/j.prp.2025.156096

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer continues to pose a significant global threat to women's health, with rising incidence and mortality rates in recent years. Pathologically, cervical cancer primarily comprises squamous cell carcinoma (CESC) and adenocarcinoma, where CESC represents more than 80 % of diagnosed cases. Most patients present with advanced-stage CESC at diagnosis, and nearly half eventually develop distant metastases, leading to markedly diminished cure rates and five-year survival below 30 %. Here we examine SPARC expression patterns and their functional implications in CESC progression.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry, western blot, and real-time PCR measured SPARC expression in CESC specimens. We assessed associations between SPARC levels and clinicopathological features or patient survival. In CESC cell lines, functional studies-including CCK-8 assay, cell scratch assay, western blot, and cell Transwell assay-characterized SPARC's role in proliferation, invasion, migration and EMT progression.

Results: Our findings demonstrated that SPARC was significantly upregulated in CESC tissues compared with normal controls. Elevated SPARC expression correlated with poorer prognosis and served as an independent prognostic factor. Functional studies revealed that SPARC promoted tumor cell proliferation, invasion, migration, colony formation, and EMT activation in CESC cells.

Conclusion: SPARC serves as an independent prognostic biomarker linked to malignant progression in CESC by regulating proliferation, invasion, migration, clonogenicity, and EMT. These results suggest SPARC could be a viable molecular target for CESC treatments.

Keywords: CESC; EMT; Prognosis; Prognostic factor; SPARC.