Immunostaining of βA-Activin and Follistatin Is Decreased in HPV(+) Cervical Pre-Neoplastic and Neoplastic Lesions.

The activin-follistatin system regulates several cellular processes, including differentiation and tumorigenesis. We hypothesized that the immunostaining of βA-activin and follistatin varies in neoplastic cervical lesions. Cervical paraffin-embedded tissues from 162 patients sorted in control ( = 15), cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade 1 ( = 38), CIN2 ( = 37), CIN3 ( = 39), and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC; = 33) groups were examined for βA-activin and follistatin immunostaining.