Abstract:Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of CD44v6 and human papillomavirus (HPV) L1 capsid protein in cervical squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions.Methods A total of 102 cases of paraffin specimens of cervical squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions resected in the hospital from January 2017 to January 2022 were collected. Among them, 41 were paraffin specimens of cervical squamous cell carcinoma, 30 were cervical low-grade intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) specimens in precancerous lesions, and 31 were cervical high-grade intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) specimens. Another 49 cases of normal cervical tissue paraffin specimens that underwent hysterectomy due to uterine fibroids were selected as controls. The expression of CD44v6 and HPV L1 capsid protein in different tissue samples was determined by immunohistochemistry. The diagnostic value of CD44v6 and HPV L1 capsid protein in cervical squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions was analyzed.Results The positive expression rate of CD44v6 in normal cervical tissue, LSIL tissue, HSIL tissue, and cervical squamous cell carcinoma tissue was significantly different (P < 0.05). The positive expression rate of CD44v6 in cervical squamous cell carcinoma was higher than that in LSIL tissue and normal cervical tissue (P <0.05). The positive expression rate of CD44v6 in HSIL tissue was higher than that in normal cervical tissue (P <0.05). The positive expression rate of HPV L1 capsid protein in normal cervical tissue, LSIL tissue, HSIL tissue, and cervical squamous cell carcinoma tissue was significantly different (P < 0.05). The positive expression rate of HPV L1 capsid protein in cervical squamous cell carcinoma tissue was lower than that in HSIL tissue, LSIL tissue and normal cervical tissue (P < 0.05), and the positive expression rate of HPV L1 capsid protein in HSIL tissue was lower than that in LSIL tissue and normal cervical tissue (P < 0.05). The results of ROC curve analysis showed that the sensitivity of CD44v6 and HPV L1 capsid protein in cervical squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesion tissue samples for diagnosing cervical squamous cell carcinoma was 70.73% (95% CI: 0.543, 0.834), 75.61% (95% CI: 0.594, 0.871), 70.73% (95% CI: 0.543, 0.834), specificities were 77.05% (95% CI: 0.642, 0.865), 73.77% (95% CI: 0.607, 0.838), 90.16% (95% CI: 0.792, 0.959), AUCs were 0.746 (95% CI: 0.648, 0.844), 0.742 (95% CI: 0.638, 0.846), 0.907 (95% CI: 0.848, 0.966). The results of ROC curve analysis showed that the sensitivities of CD44v6 and HPV L1 capsid proteins in the precancerous lesion tissue samples for the diagnosis of HSIL were 74.19% (95% CI: 0.551, 0.875), 70.96% (95% CI: 0.518, 0.851), 70.96% (95% CI: 0.518, 0.851), the specificity was 76.67% (95% CI: 0.573, 0.894), 73.33%(95% CI: 0.538, 0.870), 90.00% (95% CI: 0.723, 0.974), AUC were 0.748 (95% CI: 0.649, 0.847), 0.726 (95% CI: 0.627, 0.825), 0.890 (95% CI: 0.820, 0.959).Conclusion CD44v6 is abnormally highly expressed in cervical lesions, and the expression level of CD44v6 increases with the severity of cervical lesions. The changes of HPV L1 capsid protein are opposite to that of CD44v6. The combined diagnosis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions is of high value.