In univariate analysis, we found that high histological grade (hazard ratio (HR) = 6.38, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.855–14.026, p < 0.001), positivity for lymph vessel invasion, and high protein expression of E2F1 (HR = 5.141, 95% CI: 1.738–15.211, p = 0.003), E2F2 (HR = 10.668, 95% CI: 2.503–45.644, p = 0.001), E2F7 (HR = 27.611, 95% CI: 3.669–207.762, p = 0.001), and E2F8 (HR = 5.141, 95% CI: 1.738–15.211, p = 0.003) were related to shorter OS of patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma (Additional file 2: Tables S2–S5, left table). This evidence concerns the gene E2F1 and cervical squamous cell carcinoma.