Objective To investigate the clinical application value of stathmin, p16 and Ki-67 in the cervical intractable cases. Methods Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expressions of stathmin, p16 and Ki-67 in surgical specimens of 288 cervical intractable cases, including 30 cases of cervical benign changes, 70 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)Ⅰ, 78 cases of CINⅡ, 85 cases of CINⅢand 25 cases of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC, as control group). The application value of stathmin, p16 and Ki-67 in the cervical cases were analyzed. Results The positive expression rates of Ki-67 of cervical benign changes and CINⅠwere 20.0 % (6/30) and 54.3 % (38/70) (χ2 = 3.29, P> 0.05). The expression rates of Ki-67 in CINⅡ, CINⅢ and SCC were all 100.0 %, and compared with the cervix benign changes, the differences were statistically significant (χ2= 112, P< 0.05). The expression rates of p16 in cervical benign changes and CINⅠwere 6.7 % (2/30) and 91.4 % (64/70), and there was significantly statistical difference (χ2=50.64, P<0.05). However, the expression rates of p16 in CINⅡ, CINⅢand SCC were all 100.0%, and compared with the cervix benign changes, the differences were statistically significant (χ2= 7.18, P< 0.01). The expression rates of stathmin in cervical benign changes, CINⅠ, CIN Ⅱ, CINⅢ and SCC were 3.3 %(1/30), 5.7 % (4/70), 23.1 % (18/78), 77.0 % (67/87) and 100.0 % (25/25), respectively, and there was no statistic difference in cervical benign changes, CINⅠand CINⅡ (χ2=0.68, P>0.05), but the expression rates in CINⅢ and SCC were higher than those in cervical benign change, CINⅠand CIN Ⅱ(P< 0.01). The positive expressions of stathmin, p16 and Ki-67 in each group of CIN were positively correlated (r= 0.412, P< 0.05). Conclusions Combined detection of p16 and Ki-67 can assist in the differential diagnosis of cervical intractable cases, and provide objective indicators for the classification and accurate diagnosis of CIN. Combined detection of p16 and stathmin may help to identify high-grade, low-grade CIN and cervix benign changes for the reduction of over-treatment.