Association of CDK15 and L1CAM Expression in Cervical Cancer Tissues with Clinicopathological Characteristics and Recurrence/Metastasis After Radical Hysterectomy

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the association of CDK15(cyclin-dependent kinase 15) and L1CAM L1 (cell adhesion molecule) expression with clinicopathological characteristics and recurrence and/or metastasis after radical hysterectomy of cervical cancer.

Methodology: Retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 80 patients with pathologically confirmed cervical cancer who underwent radical hysterectomy at Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University between January 2023 to January 2025. Differences in CDK15 and L1CAM L1 expression in cervical cancer tissues were compared across subgroups stratified by different clinicopathological characteristics, including age and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics(FIGO) stage. Recurrence and metastasis in cervical cancer patients were documented within 12 months post-radical hysterectomy. The Kaplan-Meier method was employed to analyze the association of CDK15/L1CAM expression with recurrence-free survival(RFS).

Results: The positive expression rates of CDK15 and L1CAM in cervical cancer tissues were 51.25% and 47.50%, respectively-both significantly higher than the corresponding rates of 22.50% and 18.75% in adjacent non-cancerous tissues(P<0.05). In cervical cancer tissues, the expression of CDK15 exhibited statistically significant differences across subgroups stratified by FIGO stage, histological differentiation, lymph node metastasis, and lymphovascular invasion(P<0.05); whereas the expression of L1CAM demonstrated statistically significant differences across subgroups stratified by FIGO stage, maximum tumor diameter, and lymph node metastasis(P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the 12 months RFS rate after radical hysterectomy was approximately 68.29% in cervical cancer patients with positive CDK15 expression, which was lower than the 89.74% in patients with negative CDK15 expression(Log-rank P=0.019).

Conclusion: CDK15 and L1CAM are highly expressed in cervical cancer tissues. Consequently, CDK15 and L1CAM hold promise as novel prognostic biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for cervical cancer.