Abstract:Objective:To investigate the amplification of the hTERC gene in cervical adenocarcinomas(CA) and its role in pathologic diagnosis and prognostic evaluation. Methods:A total of 38 paraffin-embedded samples were collected from patients diagnosed as CA in Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Hospital Affiliated to NJMU from Jan,2006 to Dec,2009,and 37 samples diagnosed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia(CIN) with normal cervical gland were severed as control group. These samples were analyzed using fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH) to detect the amplification of hTERC gene in the both group. Results:The positive rate of hTERC expression in the adenocarcinoma group and the control group was 84.21%(32/38)and 0%(0/37),respectively. There were significant differences (P < 0.01) between those two groups. The sensitivity of hTERC was 84.21%(32/38),the specificity was 100%(37/37),the positive predictive value was 100%(32/32),the negative predictive value was 86.05%(37/43). The results indicate that different subtypes of the cervical adenocarcinomas had different positive detection rate. The amplification of hTERC gene in well differentiated CA was different form that in moderate and poor differentiated CA(P < 0.05). The most common hybridization signals of the control group were 2∶2,while the abnormal amplification of adenocarcinoma had 2∶3,2∶4,2∶5,3∶3,4∶4 and N∶N. According to information of the 30 patients with detailed follow-up,there was no correlation between prognosis and the different amplification levels(P > 0.05). Conclusion:The hTERC amplification increases significantly in cervical adenocarcinomas,and the hTERC gene amplification level changes with the differentiation degree. It can be regarded as the pathological assisted diagnosis index of cervical adenocarcinomas. The correlation of the high-frequency amplification of hTERC and the poor prognosis of the cervical adenocarcinomas is as yet unknown.