The proportion of CD44+CD24low cancer stem cells (CSC) was determined in cervical scrapings of 41 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix before treatment and after irradiation in a total focal dose of 10 Gy. The relationship of quantitative changes in the CSC population with such parameters of papillomavirus infection as genotype, viral load, and physical status of HPV DNA (the absence or presence of HPV DNA integration into the cell genome and the degree of integration) was studied. Single- and multi-factor analysis revealed 2 independent indicators affecting the radiation response of CSC: initial number of these cells before treatment and physical status of HPV DNA. The increase in the CSC proportion after radiation exposure was observed 4.5-fold more often in patients with an initially low proportion of CSC (<3%) than that in other patients (p=0.001). The CSC proportion increased by on average 3% after irradiation in patients with complete integration of HPV 16/18 DNA and decreased by 3.8 % in patients with partial integration or no integration (p=0.03).

中文翻译：

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宫颈癌干细胞放射反应与其治疗前初始数量的相关性和乳头瘤病毒感染的分子遗传特征

41例宫颈鳞状细胞癌患者在治疗前和治疗后总局灶剂量为10 Gy的宫颈刮片中测定CD44+CD24low癌症干细胞（CSC）的比例。研究了 CSC 群体的数量变化与乳头瘤病毒感染参数如基因型、病毒载量和 HPV DNA 的物理状态（HPV DNA 是否整合到细胞基因组中以及整合程度）之间的关系。单因素和多因素分析揭示了影响 CSC 辐射反应的 2 个独立指标：治疗前这些细胞的初始数量和 HPV DNA 的物理状态。在初始 CSC 比例较低（< 3%) 比其他患者 (p = 0.001)。在完全整合 HPV 16/18 DNA 的患者中，辐射后 CSC 比例平均增加 3%，在部分整合或未整合的患者中降低 3.8% (p=0.03)。