p53 codon 72 polymorphism and risk of cervical carcinoma in Korean women

A common polymorphism of the wild type p53 is known at codon 72 of exon 4, with 2 alleles encoding either arginine (CGC, p53Arg) or proline (CCC, p53P ro), A recent study suggested that this polymorphism affects the susceptibi lity of p53 protein to human papillomavirus E6 oncoprotein mediated degrada tion and that individuals homozygous for p53Arg are seven times more suscep tible to HPV-associated carcinogenesis of the cervix than heterozygotes. To examine whether the p53Arg genotype could be a risk factor for HPV-associa ted cervical carcinomas in the Korean population, we analyzed the p53 codon 72 polymorphism status of HPV-positive invasive cervical carcinomas from 5 2 Korean women and 103 healthy control samples. The proportion of individua ls homozygous for p53Arg, homozygous for p53Pro, and heterozygous for the t wo alleles were 40%, 19%, and 41% in normal healthy controls; 42%, 17%, and 40% in women with HPV-positive invasive cervical carcinoma. There were no significant differences in the distribution of p53 genotypes between contro ls and cervical carcinomas. This finding indicates that the p53Arg genotype is not associated with an increased susceptibility to cervical carcinoma i n Korean women.