Lgr5 is a potential prognostic marker in patients with cervical carcinoma.

To investigate the Lgr5 (Leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 5) expression in cervical carcinoma and to estimate its clinical significance.The expression of Lgr5 mRNA was evaluated by Real-time PCR in 8 pairs of surgically removed cervical cancer and adjacent normal cervical tissues. Lgr5 protein expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in 94 paraffin-embedded cervical carcinoma specimens. The correlation between Lgr5 expression and clinicopathological features were statistically analyzed.Lgr5 expression was significantly higher in cervical cancer tissues compared with that in adjacent normal cervix. High Lgr5 expression was positively correlated with tumor size (P = 0.025) and parametrial infiltration (P = 0.027). Moreover, high levels of Lgr5 was associated with lower overall survival (P = 0.021) and recurrent-free survival (P = 0.008), especially in stage II patients (P = 0.035). Multivariate analysis showed that the expression of Lgr5 was an independent factor of recurrent-free survival for the patients with cervical carcinoma (P = 0.135).Lgr5 may play an important role in the development and progression of cervical carcinoma, and may be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of cervical carcinoma.