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Presence and persistence of HPV infection and p53 mutation in cancer of the cervix uteri and the vulva
Author(s) -
MildeLangosch Karin,
Albrecht Kathrin,
Joram Simone,
Schlechte Horst,
Giessing Markus,
Löning Thomas
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.2910630507
Subject(s) - cervix , vulva , cervical cancer , vulvar carcinoma , vulvar cancer , pathology , hpv infection , mutation , immunohistochemistry , medicine , cancer research , biology , cancer , gene , biochemistry
We studied 51 cervical carcinomas, among them 25 squamous‐cell carcinomas (SCC) and 26 cervical adenocarcinomas (AdCa), and 40 vulvar SCC for the presence of HPV and mutant p53 . HPV was detected by PCR, and p53 alterations by temperature‐gradient gel electrophoresis/direct sequencing and immunohistochemistry. HPV, mostly type 16/18, was found in 80.4% of the cervical tumors (92.0% of the SCC and 69.2% of the AdCa), but in only 27.5% of vulvar carcinomas. In contrast, p53 mutations were found in 7.8% and 52.5% of cervical and vulvar tumors respectively. Mutant p53 occurred in pre‐invasive vulvar lesions, indicating that this oncogenic factor is involved early in carcino‐genesis. Further analysis of recurrent/metastatic lesions of 9 cervical and 14 vulvar tumors also showed remarkable differences: in cervical cancer, HPV was persistent, and p53 mutations absent, whereas in vulvar tumors, HPV was mostly absent or not persistent, and the p53 mutation rate was very high (78.6%). These observations suggest that HPV persistence is an important event for the evolution and maintenance of cervical cancer, whereas for vulvar cancers p53 mutation and not HPV activity is a central oncogenic event. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc .