Human papillomavirus genotyping by oligonucleotide microarray and p16 expression in uterine cervical intraepithelial neoplasm and in invasive carcinoma in Korean women

For evaluating the diagnostic significance of p16(INK4A) over-expression in the uterine cervical intraepithelial neoplasm and in invasive carcinoma, human papillomavirus (HPV) was detected and genotyped by oligonucleotide microarray in archival tissues of 117 cervical specimens, including 47 invasive squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), 30 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), 20 adenocarcinomas, and 20 cases of non-neoplastic cervix. The expression of p16(INK4A) protein was immunohistochemically studied in these cases and in five HPV-positive and one HPV-negative cervical cancer cell lines. HPV was detected in 50% of CIN, 61.7% of SCC, and 45.5% of adenocarcinomas. p16(INK4A) expression was seen in all 20 cases of adenocarcinoma, 78.7% (37/47) of SCC, and 96.7% (29/30) of CIN, but not in any cases of the non-neoplastic cervix. There was no difference in p16(INK4A) expression between the HPV-positive and HPV-negative cervical lesions. All HPV-positive and -negative cervical cancer cell lines expressed p16(INK4A) protein. In conclusion, the presence of p16(INK4A) expression in cervical squamous and glandular epithelium indicates the existence of dysplasia or malignancy in the uterine cervix, regardless of HPV infection.