Infrequent occurrence of high-risk human papillomavirus and of p53 mutation in minimal deviation adenocarcinoma of the cervix

To assess the occurrence of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and p53 alterations in minimal deviation adenocarcinoma (MDA) of the uterin e cervix, paraffin sections were used to investigate the presence of HPVs 1 6 and 18 and p53 expression and mutation in six cases of MDA. By polymerase chain reaction, only one case was positive for HPV 16 and none was positiv e for HPV 18. By in situ polymerase chain reaction in the case positive for HPV 16, HPV 16 was detected in a low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion overlying the,MDA but not in the MDA itself. All of the MDAs were negative or only focally positive for p53 by immunohistochemistry. Our polymerase c hain reaction DNA sequencing study failed to detect p53 mutation in exons 5 to 8 in those cases focally positive for p53 expression. These results sug gest that MDA may be associated only occasionally with the high-risk HPVs o r with p53 gene alterations.