Therapeutic implications of oxidative stress in squamous cervical neoplasia

Cervical cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-associated mortality in women worldwide. Although neoplastic epithelial transformation and the association with HPV infection have been widely studied, there is less research on the effect of other factors, such as oxidative stress (ROS). To study the antioxidant status of the different steps in cervical cancer development, we analyzed 32 cervical samples. The histological spectrum of alterations varied from low grade intraepithelial lesions to invasive carcinoma. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded 4-cm tissue sections were stained with various immunohistochemical antigens targeting both neoplastic epithelial cells and stromal component. The stromal response was heterogeneous and showed different patterns which were correlated with the epithelial alterations. Carcinogenesis integrates various landmarks into a pathological network of events and cellular responses under the influence of many types of stress – oxidative and inflammatory, which support tumorigenesis and tumor progression, but are also effective antitumoral therapeutic tools. Recent data showed that the chemo- and radiotherapy efficacy requires a tumor-activated oxidative status, suggesting that the pharmacological inhibition of the endogenous antioxidant system may represent an adjunctive therapeutic approach in solid tumors to control resistance to conventional anti-tumoral therapy.