HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS INFECTION AND TP53 GENE MUTATION IN PRIMARY CERVICAL-CARCINOMA

Tumor specimens obtained from 136 patients with primary carcinoma of t he uterine cervix were analyzed for the presence of human papillomavir us (HPV) sequences and for mutation of the TP53 gene. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) showed that 130 of 136 (96%) tumors contained an oncog enic HPV 16 or Is sequence. HPV 16 was the predominant type in cervica l squamous cell carcinomas and HPV IS was significantly associated wit h cervical adenocarcinomas (p < 0.05). The more dedifferentiated the p rimary tumor, the more frequent the HPV 16 infection and the more diff erentiated, the more frequent the HPV 18 infection (p < 0.05). Two out of 136 (1.5%) rumors demonstrated single-strand conformation polymorp hism (SSCP) band shifts. One (positive for HPV 18) had a nonsense muta tion of codon 101 in exon 4 from AAA to TAA transversion. Another (pos itive for L1 consensus primer set) showed a point mutation involving c odon 179 in exon 5 changing CAT to CGT transition. The three specimens negative for HPV did not contain TP53 gene mutations. Our data show t hat mutation of TP53 is infrequent in primary cervical carcinoma and t here is no inverse correlation between HPV infection and TP53 gene mut ation. Other mechanisms independent of TP53 inactivation may also be i mplicated in tumorigenesis of the uterine cervix.