Pengfei Guo,1 Lirui Wu,1 Huiying Wang,1 Lanpeng Wang,2 Hongxia Li,1 Hongli Wang,1 Yajuan Wang,1 Shujuan Shao,1 Suning Chen1 

1Hebei Central Hospital of Petroleum Gynecology, Langfang, Hebei, 065000, People’s Republic of China; 2Langfang People’s Hospital, Langfang, Hebei, 065000, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Lirui Wu, Email arvb800@163.com

Objective: To analyze the relationship and clinical significance between systemic expression levels of immune cells and tumor markers and high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in patients with cervical cancer, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, and chronic cervicitis.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 69 patients with cervical cancer infected with HPV (Group A), 78 patients with CIN (Group B), and 52 patients with chronic cervicitis (Group C) treated at Hebei Central Hospital of petroleum gynecology from April 2021 to April 2023. Peripheral blood immune cells (CD4+/CD8+, CD56+, Treg) and serum tumor markers (CA125, SCC-Ag, TSGF, Cyfra211) were compared. Correlations with HPV-DNA levels, lymph node metastasis, and survival were analyzed.
Results: Group A had lower CD4+/CD8+ and CD56+ levels but higher Treg and tumor marker levels vs Groups B/C (P< 0.05). Group B showed similar trends vs Group C (P< 0.05). In Group A, Treg and tumor markers positively correlated with HPV-DNA levels (r=0.552– 0.613), while CD4+/CD8+ and CD56+ negatively correlated (r=− 0.482/-0.467, P< 0.05). Patients with lymph node metastasis or mortality exhibited worse immune/tumor marker profiles than controls (P< 0.05).
Conclusion: Compared with patients with CIN and chronic cervicitis associated with high-risk HPV infection, cervical cancer patients exhibit decreased systemic immune function and increased circulating tumor marker expression. These findings are closely associated with HPV-DNA levels. Systemic detection of these markers may provide valuable guidance for the early prevention, diagnosis, and prognosis assessment of cervical cancer in patients with high-risk HPV infection.

Keywords: cervical cancer, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, chronic cervicitis, immune cells, tumor markers, high-risk HPV infection, relationship, clinical significance