Imiquimod treatment effectively reduces the percentage of viable cells in a cervical carcinoma cell line but does not affect the expression of HLA-G or OCT-4.

OBJECTIVE: Cervical cancer is a challenging pathologic entity because of its lack of response to conventional chemotherapy. Imiquimod is a synthetic analogue which seems to activate skin immune cells, acting as a Toll-like receptor 7 agonist. Previous studies in the field of cervical cancer have showed that its application may play a significant role in the treatment of cervical HPV infection with or without cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). In the present study we investigate the therapeutic potential of imiquimod in a cervical carcinoma cell line and evaluate whether the expression of HLA-G and OCT-4 is altered during this treatment.

METHODS: HeLa cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium and treated with 200 μl of imiquimod diluted solution (50 μg/ml). Cultured cells were allocated in four groups 1) control, 2) DMSO only, 3) DMSO and imiquimod for 48 hours, 4) DMSO and imiquimod for 72 hours.

RESULTS: In the imiquimod treated cell lines we observed a significant reduction of viable cells at 48 and 72 hours (p = .001). The relative expression analysis of OCT-4 and HLA-G genes at 48 and 72 hours did not reveal significant differences after imiquimod treatment.

CONCLUSION: Imiquimod effectively reduces the percentage of viable HeLa cells and should be further evaluated in future clinical trials. This effect takes place as of 48 hours after its initial application and seems to persist at least until 72 hours. HLA-G and OCT-4 expression is not affected by this type of treatment.