The role of 5-fluorouracil in Wnt/β-catenin signalling in human papillomavirus-positive cervical cancer cells.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a major risk factor for cer-vical cancer, especially persistent infection with high-risk HPV. 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a widely used antimetabolite chemotherapeutic agent that inhibits the prolifera-tion of tumour cells by interfering with ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis; however, its mechanism of action has not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the role of Wnt/β-catenin signalling in patients with high-risk HPV with cervical cancer treated with 5-FU. Patients with high-risk HPV-positive cervical cancer treated with surgery were taken as the research participants, and le-sion tissues were collected during surgery. Human HPV-positive cervical cancer cells were isolated and cultured in vitro by the enzyme combined digestion method, and the obtained cells were divided into a control group, a paclitaxel group and a 5-FU group. A 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to measure the proliferation of high-risk HPV-positive cervical cancer cells under different treatment conditions. Western blotting was used to evaluate the protein expression level of the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway in cells, and flow cytometry was used to analyse the level of T lymphocytes in the patients’ blood. The results of the MTT assay showed that the proliferation rate of cervical cancer cells in the control group was significantly higher than that in the paclitaxel group and the 5-FU group at all detection time points (p<0.05). The expression levels of Wnt/β-catenin protein in the 5-FU group were lower than those in the paclitaxel and the control groups (p<0.05). The results of the T lymphocyte level comparison showed that the ratios of CD3+ T cells, CD4+ T cells and CD4+/CD8+ cells affected by 5-FU were higher than those before treatment (p<0.05). 5-fluorouracil can significantly reduce the expression level of Wnt/β-catenin protein and increase the T lymphocyte levels in cervical cancer cells.