Human papilloma virus and p53 overexpression in carcinomas of the uterine cervix, lower uterine segment and endometrium

Inactivation of the wild type p53 protein through complexing of protein synthesized by specific subtypes of human papilloma virus (HPV) or mutation in the p53 gene is considered to play an important role in cervical carcinogenesis. The association between p53 overexpression and the presence of HPV 16 and 18 DNA was assessed in 29 cervical carcinomas, 15 carcinomas of the lower uterine segment and 30 endometrial carcinomas. In 29 cervical carcinomas (21 adenocarcinomas and 8 adenosquamous carcinomas), 7 cases were positive for HPV 16 DNA while 5 were positive for HPV 18 DNA. Nine cases (31%) showed p53 overexpression. An inverse association was seen between the presence of HPV DNA and the p53 overexpression. In 15 carcinomas of the lower uterine segment, one case was positive for HPV 16 DNA while 2 were positive for HPV 18 DNA. Overexpression of p53 was seen in 8 (53%) carcinomas of the lower uterine segment. Two of 3 HPV DNA positive carcinomas of the lower uterine segment revealed p53 overexpression. HPV DNA was not detected in endometrial carcinomas and p53 overexpression was shown in 12 (40%) cases. The association between HPV DNA and p53 overexpression differs among the tumors arising in the cervix, lower uterine segment and endometrium.