Statistical analysis

In total, 3 independent experiments were performed, and all data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation. GraphPad Prism 7 (GraphPad Software, Inc.) was used for all statistical analyses. The comparison between two groups was analyzed using paired Student's t-test (Figs. 1A and ​and2)2) or unpaired Student's t-test (Fig. 1B). One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's test was used for comparisons between multiple groups. P<0.05 was considered to indicate a statistically significant difference.

IL-17 is upregulated in cervical cancer tissues. (A) Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression level of IL-17 in cervical cancer tissue or adjacent normal tissues. ^**P<0.01 via paired Student's t-test. (B) Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to detect the level of IL-17 in the serum of patients with cervical cancer or healthy individuals. ^**P<0.01 via unpaired Student's t-test. IL, interleukin.

JAK2/STAT3, NF-κB, VEGF and PI3K are involved in tumorigenesis of cervical cancer. (A) Protein expression levels of JAK2, p-JAK2, STAT3, p-STAT3, p-p65, Akt, p-Akt and VEGF in tissues detected by western blotting. Relative expression levels of (B) p-JAK2 (normalized to JAK2), (C) p-STAT3 (normalized to STAT3), (E) p-p65 (normalized to p65) and (F) p-Akt (normalized to Akt) were quantified. Relative expression level of (D) VEGF was normalized to GAPDH. ^**P<0.01 vs. control. The data were analyzed using paired Student's t-test. NF-κB, nuclear factor-κB; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor; p-, phosphorylated.