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

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.