The presence of HPV 16, 18 and p53 immunohistochemical staining in tumor tissue of Israeli Jewish women with cervical and vulvar neoplasia

The incidence of cervical neoplasia in Israeli Jewish women is persistently lower, while that of vulvar carcinoma is comparable to that in other populations. The aim of the present investigation was to assess the prevalence of HPV and of immunohistochemically detected mutant p53 in Israeli Jewish women with cervical and vulvar neoplasia compared with other populations. Tissue sections from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded blocks of ten patients with CIN III, 29 with invasive squamous cell carcinoma, three with adenocarcinoma and 14 with invasive vulvar carcinoma, were examined for the presence of HPV 16 and HPV 18 DNA by PCR amplification, and for mutant p53 protein by immunohistochemical staining. HPV negative cases were re-examined with a sensitive primer. HPV DNA was detected in eight patients with CIN III and in 23 patients with invasive squamous carcinoma. In the remaining cervical squamous neoplasia tissue analysis with the sensitive primer could not be done. HPV DNA was also detected in two patients with adenocarcinoma and in nine (64.2%) patients with vulvar carcinoma. Positive p53 immunohistochemical staining was found only in one CIN III patient, in six (20.7%) squamous carcinoma and in 11 (78.6%) vulvar carcinoma patients. Of the p53 immunohistochemical staining positive tissues, two with cervical carcinoma and six with vulvar carcinoma were also HPV-positive. The prevalence of HPV and of positive p53 immunohistochemical staining in our series of Israeli Jewish women with cervical and vulvar neoplasia is similar to that in other populations, suggesting that the etiological factors are probably also alike.     

Immunohistochemical examination oncogenic c-erb-b2, egf-r proteins and antioncogenic p53 protein in vulvar cancers HPV-16 positive and negative

In vulvar cancers HPV 16 positive, HPV 16 negative, and vulvar and vaginal precancerous status (VIN, VAIN) immunohistochemical technik onko- and antioncogenic proteins were evaluated. The contrary correlation between HPV 16 presence and overexpression p53 were detected. It suggest the heterogenic etiology of these cancers. There was payed attention to high activity of virus replication and intensive virion production in VAIN. Nontreated vaginal lesion may make difficult to obtain a positive cervical HPV infection treatment.     

Analysis of invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva and vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia for the presence of human papillomavirus DNA

We have analyzed a number of invasive squamous cell carcinomas for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA using dot blot and Southern blot analysis. Seven of 31 samples (23%) were positive by dot blot and/or Southern blot analysis. In contrast, six of 11 (55%) of vulvar intraepithelial neoplasias contained HPV DNA by dot blot and/or Southern blot hybridization. Less than 50% of the invasive vulvar carcinomas contained detectable HPV DNA. The average age at onset of vulvar carcinoma is higher than that for cervical carcinoma (in which HPV DNA is detected in over 80% of cases). Therefore, the role of HPV in the genesis of vulvar carcinoma may be different from the role of HPV in the genesis of cervical carcinoma.     

外阴癌中HPV感染与p53、MDM2表达的关系

目的 :探讨HPV6/ 11、16/ 18在外阴癌组织中的感染情况及与p5 3、MDM2蛋白表达的关系。方法 :用原位杂交法 (ISH)检测HPV6/ 11、16/ 18在 30例外阴癌、2 1例外阴上皮内瘤变 (VIN)及 10例外阴正常皮肤组织中的表达。同时用免疫组化SP法检测p5 3、MDM2蛋白的表达。结果 :HPV6/ 11、16/ 18在外阴癌、VIN中的阳性表达率分别为 60 % (18/30 )、33.33% (10 / 30 ) ,4 2 .86% (9/ 2 1)、2 8.5 7% (6/ 2 1) ,正常对照组没有表达。p5 3、MDM2蛋白在外阴癌、VIN、正常对照组中的阳性表达率分别为 63.33% (19/ 30 )、4 0 .0 0 % (12 / 30 ) ,4 7.62 %(10 / 2 1)、5 2 .38% (11/ 2 1) ,0 % (0 / 10 )、0 % (0 / 10 )。HPV6/ 11的表达在外阴癌组、VIN组与正常组差异有显著性 (P <0 .0 5 ) ,外阴癌组HPV16/ 18表达与正常组差异有显著性 (P <0 .0 5 )。外阴病变各组p5 3、MDM2与正常组差异有显著性 (P <0 .0 5 )。结论 :HPV6/ 11、HPV16/ 18、p5 3、MDM2蛋白在外阴组织的不同病变中表达均差异有显著性 ,在外阴癌的发生发展中HPV感染、p5 3突变和MDM2表达可能起一定的作用     

p53 gene mutation is rare in human cervical carcinomas with positive HPV sequences

Chromosome 17p allelic losses and concurrent p53 mutations have been demonstrated in various human cancers. We therefore investigated the presence of chromosome 17p allelic loss and possible concurrent p53 mutation in 29 Korean cases of cervical carcinoma by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) over the region from exon 4 to exon 9 of the p53 gene. We also examined the expression of p53 in paraffin tissues by immunohistochemical staining and determined the incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) sequences in the same tissues by multitype PCR analysis to correlate them to the allelic loss on chromosome 17p13 and p53 mutation. In the analysis of 29 cases, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) was observed in eight (40%) cases out of 20 informative cases and p53 mutation was observed in only one case (3.4%) at exon 5. So in the majority of cases with LOH on 17p in this series, mutation of p53 gene appeared to be rare. But we obtained three cases (10.3%) of positive immunoreactivity from 29 cases. Those cases may carry mutations outside of the regions examined by PCR-SSCP. HPV DNA was detected in 27 of 29 cases (93.1%). HPV types 8, 11, 16, and 18 were detected in the samples we tested, while only two (7.4%) out of 27 HPV positive cases exhibited overexpression for p53 without any demonstrable p53 mutation upon PCR-SSCP. These results suggest that HPV infection may play a role in inactivating wild-type p53 protein in cervical carcinomas. In conclusion, mutation and overexpression of p53 gene appear to be rare, particularly in cases of cervical carcinoma associated with positive HPV sequence.     

Effect of human papillomavirus vaccines on vulvar, vaginal, and anal intraepithelial lesions and vulvar cancer

OBJECTIVE: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a necessary cause for cervical cancer, and it has been associated with vulvar and vaginal cancer and vulvar (VIN) and vaginal (VaIN) and anal (AIN) intraepithelial neoplasia. We assessed the prevalence of HPV (and the types) to estimate the possible effect of a HPV vaccine on lower genital tract disease prevention. METHODS: Two hundred fifty-eight samples of VIN, VaIN, AIN, and vulvar cancer from 241 women were included in the study. The diagnosis of surgical samples was made using published histomorphologic criteria. The DNA was extracted for HPV detection and typed using polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. RESULTS: The analyses were performed on 210 intraepithelial neoplasia samples (VIN2/3, VaIN2/3, AIN2/3) and 48 vulvar carcinoma samples. Human papillomavirus DNA was detected in 92%, 91%, 89%, and 60% of the VIN, VaIN, AIN, and vulvar carcinoma samples, respectively. High-risk HPV types 16 or 18 were detected in 76%, 64%, 81%, and 42% of the VIN2/3, VaIN2/3, AIN, and vulvar carcinoma samples. Women with HPV-positive samples were younger than those with HPV-negative samples (46 years compared with 55 years and 51 years compared with 61 years, for the VIN2/3 and vulvar carcinoma samples, respectively). Human papillomavirus-positive vulvar carcinoma was more frequent in women aged younger than 56 years (77%), than in those aged 56 years or older (41%). CONCLUSION: Based on the data obtained in this study, widely-implemented prophylactic HPV vaccination could make an important contribution to the reduction of the risk for cervical cancer and could also prevent about half the vulvar carcinomas in younger women and about two thirds of the intraepithelial lesions in the lower genital tract. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-3.     

子宫颈癌p53抑癌基因突变与病毒感染的研究

采用聚合酶链反应－单链构象多态性分析（ＰＣＲ－ＳＳＣＰ）、多重引物ＰＣＲ和巢式引物ＰＣＲ，对同一宫颈癌组织中ｐ５３基因（第６～８外显子）突变以及人乳头状瘤病毒（ＨＰＶ）和人巨细胞病毒（ＨＣＭＶ）感染进行相关性研究。并与正常宫颈组织进行对照。结果：３８例宫颈癌组中，２例有ｐ５３第７外显子突变。其中１例伴有ＨＰＶ１６感染，２例伴有ＨＣＭＶ感染。宫颈癌组ＨＰＶＩ６、１８ＤＮＡ的阳性率为６３．２％（２４／３８），ＨＣＭＶＤＮＡ为８４．２％（３２／３８）。２１例对照组中，ＨＰＶ１６、１８ＤＮＡ和ＨＣＭＶＤＮＡ的阳性率分别为４．８％和３８．１％（Ｐ＜０．００５）。ＨＰＶ１６、１８阳性的子宫颈癌中，８７．５％伴有ＨＣＭＶ感染。对照组中，无一例同时检测出ＨＰＶ１６、１８和ＨＣＭＶ者。提示：宫颈癌组织中，ｐ５３基因突变并不常见，其突变与ＨＰＶ１６、１８感染无显著关系。宫颈癌与ＨＰＶ１６、１８关系密切，ＨＣＭＶ可能与ＨＰＶ协同作用，导致宫颈癌的发生。     

Human papillomavirus genotype as a prognostic factor in carcinoma of the uterine cervix

The clinical implications of specific human papillomavirus (HPV) types in invasive cervical carcinomas are only now beginning to be appreciated. The objective of this study was to determine the clinical implications and prognostic value of the HPV genotype in cervical carcinomas. In this study, we employed an HPV DNA chip to detect the type-specific sequence of HPV from cervical swabs taken from women with biopsy-proven neoplastic lesions of the cervix. We divided the patients into four groups: HPV-negative, HPV-16-related, HPV-18-related, and intermediate risk type-related. Associations with clinicopathologic data (stage, histologic type, lymph node status, parametrial invasion, lymphvascular space invasion, tumor size, vaginal involvement) and overall survival were assessed. HPV DNA was detected in 81.4% of the patients, and 19.0% harbored multiple HPV variants. HPV-16-related was the predominant type and was detected in 47.4% (46/97) of the patients. The HPV-16-related types were detected more frequently in patients with squamous cell carcinomas, whereas the HPV-18-related types were more prevalent in cases of adenocarcinomas and adenosquamous carcinomas (P < 0.05). Otherwise, no significant correlations were detected between the HPV genotype and any other clinicopathologic parameters. After a median follow-up of 30 months, the 5-year survival rate was lower in the HPV-18-related patients, but this difference was not found to be statistically significant, according to the results of the log-rank test. We conclude that neither the presence nor type of HPV DNA bears any prognostic significance in cases of cervical carcinoma.     

Human papillomavirus type 16 in vulvar carcinoma, vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia, and associated cervical neoplasia.

Vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) is becoming more widespread and the patients are becoming still younger. Although progression to invasive vulvar carcinoma is uncommon, local recurrences are frequent and about one-quarter of the patients have multicentric genital disease. The aim of the present study was to search for a possible significant association of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection with vulvar carcinoma, recurrences, and multicentric disease. We used the polymerase chain reaction to examine vulvar and cervical biopsies from 43 patients with vulvar neoplasia for HPV type 16, which is the subtype most often detected in genital malignant or premalignant lesions. HPV 16 DNA sequences were found in 14 of 24 (58%) vulvar squamous carcinomas and in 15 of 19 (79%) VIN lesions. Nine patients (21%) had associated cervical neoplasia and six of these harbored HPV 16 in both lesions. Patients with recurrent intraepithelial neoplasia had a significantly higher incidence of HPV 16-positive lesions. No association was found with regard to the occurrence of multicentric disease or risk of malignant progression.     

p53Mutations and Presence of HPV DNA Do Not Correlate with Radiosensitivity of Gynecological Cancer Cell Lines

Objective.The correlation betweenp53tumor suppressor gene mutations and the presence of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA with thein vitroradiosensitivity of gynecological malignancies was studied in 26 cell lines derived from gynecological cancers of 23 patients.Methods.Comparison of the intrinsic radiosensitivity was performed with mean inactivation dose (D?) determined with the 96-well plate clonogenic assay.p53mutations were investigated with polymerase chain reaction and single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR–SSCP) analysis and direct DNA sequencing, and the presence of HPV DNA was studied with PCR using HPV consensus primers.Results. p53mutations were found in 6 of 10 vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) lines. Nine vulvar and 1 vaginal SCC cell lines were HPV DNA negative and 1 vulvar cell line was HPV 16 positive. All 4 cervical SCC lines were HPV positive and possessed the wild-typep53.Three cell lines expressed HPV 16 and 1 HPV 68. Among 10 endometrial cancer cell lines, 2 cell lines with mutantp53and 1 HPV 16 positive cell line were found. No correlation could be demonstrated between inactivation of thep53gene and radiosensitivityin vitro;the cell lines were evaluated as one group or according to their anatomical origin or histology.Conclusion.Our results indicate that inactivation of thep53gene through mutation or binding with HPV DNA does not increase the resistance of gynecological malignancies to ionizing radiationin vitro.     

The possibility of viral etiology in cervical carcinogenesis

Oncogenic potential of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and human papillomavirus (HPV) which are both associated with occurrence of cervical cancer and the mechanism of oncogenesis by these viruses were investigated by transformation experiments in vitro. The results were obtained as follows. 1) HSV-2 induced neoplastic transformation of normal diploid cells is a multistep process. Cervical cancer associated antigen AG-4 is encoded within the specific region of HSV-2 DNA which converts immortalized cells to tumorigenic lines. 2) Tumor cells express cellular oncogene at a final stage of neoplastic transformation induced by HSV-2 and "hit and run" theory is applicable to oncogenesis of this virus. 3) Complete carcinogenesis can be mediated by HPV-16 or HPV-18 DNA under collaboration with other cofactors such as HSV-2. 4) It is suggested that neoplastic transformation induced by HPV-18 DNA is based on "hit and run" oncogenesis. 5) HPV-16 or HPV-18 DNA can immortalize primary diploid cells and convert them to fully tumorigenic phenotype by repeating cell passage. 6) It has been experimentally proved that the difference in transforming potential exists between HPV 6/11 and HPV 16/18. 7) Amplification and overexpression of c-myc oncogene was detected in transformed cells obtained by HPV-16 transfection. While overexpression of c-myc was detected in transformed cells induced by HPV-18 DNA, but no amplification was observed. On the other hand, detection of HPV, DNA and amplification or overexpression of protooncogenes was performed in cervical intraepithelial neoplasias (CIN) and invasive cervical carcinomas. The results were summarized as follows. 1) HPV DNA was detected in approximately 70% of a population with CIN by in situ hybridization. CIN II showed the highest incidence of positive HPV DNA (91%), and the positive ratio decreased in CIN III (56%). 2) Immunohistochemical study of paraffin-embedded specimens with monoclonal antibodies to oncogene products revealed that only some of cervical invasive carcinomas expressed c-myc protein, ras p21 or EGFR. 3) HPV DNA was detected in 46% of invasive cervical carcinomas by Southern blot hybridization. The percentage of patients with positive results for HPV 16/18 was 29%. However, it increased up to 58% by use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), suggesting that there are many cervical cancer tissues in which a number of cells lack viral DNA. 4) Northern blot hybridization analysis revealed overexpression of c-myc mRNA in 30% of cervical invasive carcinomas although amplification of c-myc oncogene was detected in only one of invasive carcinomas.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

p53 Expression and Genetic Evidence for Viral Infection in Intraepithelial Neoplasia of the Uterine Cervix

Infections with high-risk strains of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) and with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV 2), as well as inactivation of the p53 tumor suppressor gene, are important cofactors in cervical carcinogenesis. We analyzed 41 paraffin-embedded cervical intraepithelial lesions, including 25 cases of low-grade cervical intraepithelia neoplasia (CIN), and 16 cases of high-grade CIN for the presence of HPV 16/18 and HSV 2 genomic sequences and for the nuclear accumulation of the p53 protein. HPV 16 DNA was detected in 24.% of low-grade CINs and in 43.7% of high-grade CINs. HPV 18 was found only in 8.% of low-grade CINs. None of the cases tested scored positive for HSV 2 DNA. Nuclear accumulation of p53 was found in 4% of low-grade CINs, and in 31.2% of high-grade CINs, including 57.1% of the lesions that were positive for HPV 16. These results indicate that HPV 16 infection was over sixfold more common than HPV 18 infection and that p53 overexpression was significantly associated with high-grade lesions.     

Virological studies on generation of cervical carcinomas

1. Detection of HPV in cytologically normal cervices: We have detected by filter in situ hybridization human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6/11, 16 and 18 DNA sequences in 6(0.9%), 12(1.8%) and 4(0.6%), respectively, out of 666 swab specimens from normal cervices (mean age; 49.1 years). The positive rate for HPV 16 and HPV 18 was significantly lower compared with 27.1%(26/96) of CIN and 48.4%(15/31) of cervical cancers. HPV DNA occurred more often in women under 50 years old than in those 50 years old or older (5.1% versus 1.0%). 2. Detection of HPV in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN): Eighty nine patients with CIN I-III were examined by Southern blot analysis with HPV 11, HPV 16 and HPV 18 DNAs in stringent conditions (Tm -18 degrees C) and with HPV 16/18 mixed probe in relaxed conditions (Tm -37 degrees C). We found HPV 11, HPV 16, HPV18 and other types of HPV in 0%(0/37)/2.7%(1/37)/2.7% (1/37)/16.2%(6/37) of CIN I, 0% (0/11)/9.1%(1/11)/0%(0/11)/45.5%(5/11) of CIN II and 0% (0/41)/26.8%(11/41)/2.4%(1/41)/24.4%(10/41) of CIN III. 3. Detection of HPV in cervical carcinomas: One hundred sixty seven cervical carcinomas and 6 metastatic tumors from cervical carcinomas were examined by Southern blot analysis with HPV 16 and HPV 18 DNAs in stringent conditions (Tm -18 degrees C). HPV 16 and HPV 18 were found in 35.3% (59/167) and 7.2%(12/167), respectively. The incidence of HPV 16/18 was higher in the patients under 60 years old (55.1% [27/49]). HPV 18 was detected more often in adenosquamous carcinomas and adenocarcinomas (31.8% [7/22]) than in squamous cell carcinomas (3.4% [5/145]). Five out of 6 metastatic tumors were positive for HPV 16 or HPV 18. 4. Physical state of HPV DNA in CIN and cervical carcinomas: The physical state of HPV 16 and HPV 18 DNAs was determined by electrophoresis after digestion with uncut and single-cut enzymes and two-dimensional electrophoresis after digestion with uncut enzyme. Three out of 3 CIN had only free episomal HPV DNA. HPV 16 DNA was existed as free episomal DNA in 4, as free episomal DNA and integrated DNA in 7, as integrated DNA in 8 out of 19 cervical carcinomas. HPV 18 DNA was integrated into the host cell genome in 3 out of 3 cervical carcinomas.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Human papillomavirus, Epstein-Barr virus, and cervical carcinoma in Greenland

The incidence of cervical cancer in Greenland is one of the highest in the world. This is in accordance with known epidemiologic risk factors, in particular of sexual lifestyle and tobacco smoking. Yet a recent study of cervical smears from randomly selected Greenlandic women failed to demonstrate any elevated prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV), of which particularly HPV types 16 and 18 are assumed to play a role in the development of cervical dysplasia and carcinoma. Another oncogenic virus, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is known to be widespread in the Greenlandic population and the virus has been reported to infect the female genital tract. We therefore used the polymerase chain reaction to examine paraffin-embedded tissues of cervical carcinomas from 11 indigenous Greenlandic women and, for comparison, also cervical carcinoma tissues from 11 Danish patients, for EBV, HPV 16 and HPV 18 DNA sequences. None of the 22 cervical tissues contained EBV DNA. Six Greenlandic and five Danish carcinomas harbored HPV 16 DNA, and one carcinoma of each group was HPV 18-positive. In conclusion, cervical carcinoma is not associated with EBV infection. Further, the oncogenic HPVs are probably encountered at the same rate in carcinomas from Greenland and from Denmark.     

Detection of human papillomavirus types 16, 18 and 33 in exfoliated cervical cells by polymerase chain reaction]

Human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16, 18 and 33 were identified by means of the polymerase chain reaction using exfoliated cells from the uterine cervix in 361 patients. Of 261 patients without cervical lesions, 10(3.8%) patients had HPV DNA whereas 7(70.0%) of 10 patients with invasive cervical carcinomas had HPV DNA. The younger patients' group (29 year-old or less) without cervical lesions had a 6.5% HPV positive rate which was distinctly higher than the older patients' groups. No menopausal patient without cervical lesions had HPV DNA. In the cervical dysplasia group, the HPV DNA positive rate tended to be higher in the older patients. Type 16 was detected more often than types 18 or 33. However, the detectable incidence of type 16 in the follow up group was lower than in the cervical carcinoma groups. The younger patients without cervical lesions had a higher incidence of type 16 than the older patients. The younger patients with cervical neoplastic lesions had a lower incidence of type 16 than the older patients. These results suggest that type 16 has a higher frequency of cervical HPV infections than types 18 and 33. In addition, human papillomavirus is not the only causative factor in cervical carcinomas.     

Lack of evidence that proline homozygosity at codon 72 of p53 and rare arginine allele at codon 31 of p21, jointly mediate cervical cancer susceptibility among Indian women

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to identify whether variants of p53Arg72Pro and p21Ser31Arg were associated with increased risk for cervical cancer (CaCx), either independently or jointly, among Indian women. METHODS: Genotyping was done by PCR-RFLP using DNA from (i) 120 cervical biopsy tissues of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix (of which 82 were HPV16/18 positive), and (ii) a total of 205 cytologically normal cervical scrapes (121 HPV-negative and 84 HPV16/18-positive samples, considered as discreet groups). Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to examine additive or interactive effects of the two factors and for determining age-adjusted OR (95% CI) and P values. RESULTS: The observed association of proline homozygosity at codon 72 of p53 with CaCx infection (Bhattacharya, P., Duttagupta, C., Sengupta, S. 2002.Proline homozygosity in codon 72 of p53: A risk genotype for Human Papillomavirus related cervical cancer in Indian women. Cancer Lett 188: 207-211) was retained among Indian women harboring HPV16/18 (OR(age-adjusted) = 3.76; 95% CI = 1.03-13.80; P = 0.04). Significant independent association was evident between the p21 arginine allele (rare allele with frequency of 0.1) at codon 31 and CaCx, compared to HPV-negative cytologically normal controls (OR(age-adjusted) = 2.01; 95% CI = 1.00-4.06; P = 0.05). The two risk factors jointly failed to show statistical interaction towards susceptibility to CaCx. The p21 arginine allele was significantly associated with CaCx in the p53 proline non-homozygous group of subjects (OR(age-adjusted) = 2.68; 95% CI: 1.21-5.91; P = 0.01), and specifically in the p53 heterozygous group (OR(age-adjusted) = 2.91; 95% CI = 1.12-7.56; P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: p53 and p21 act in series in mediating cell cycle arrest. However, the two risk factors, p53 proline homozygosity and p21 arginine allele, although part of a common causal pathway, appear to act in a mutually exclusive manner.     

Correlation of p16INK4A overexpression with human papillomavirus infection in cervical adenocarcinomas.

SUMMARY: As human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the main risk factor for squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix and overexpression of p16INK4a occurs when retinoblastoma protein is inactivated by high-risk HPV, the authors studied the association of HPV infection and expression of p16INK4a in cervical adenocarcinomas. Specimens of cervical glandular neoplasias were immunostained with a p16INK4a-specific monoclonal antibody (clone E6H4). Approximately 80% of glandular neoplasms showed overexpression of p16INK4a. Exfoliated cells from 14 adenocarcinomas were further examined by p16INK4a-specific immunocytochemistry, and 12 cases showed overexpression of p16INK4a, suggesting that immunostaining for p16INK4a may be a useful diagnostic tool for cervical adenocarcinomas. The authors further examined HPV DNA in cervical adenocarcinomas with the polymerase chain reaction method. Overexpression of p16INK4a was positive in 94% of cases in which HPV16 or 18DNA was positive, a finding suggesting that HPV16 or 18 may play an important role in cervical adenocarcinomas. Overexpression of p16INK4a may be an indicator of pathogenic activity of high-risk HPVs.     

Immunohistochemical staining for p16 and p53 in premalignant and malignant epithelial lesions of the vulva.

Two distinct types of vulvar squamous cell carcinomas and their precursors, vulvar intraepithelial neoplasias (VIN), which differ in terms of clinical presentation and behavior, have been delineated. Human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated carcinomas are of basaloid or warty type, whereas tumors unrelated to HPV are usually keratinizing and differentiated. Thus, the major stratifying factor for vulvar carcinomas and VIN is their etiopathogenetic relationship with HPV. However, because of technical difficulties in confidently detecting HPV in tissues, this diagnosis is usually based on purely morphologic criteria, even though some overlap exists between these histologic types. Recently, the tumor suppressor protein p16 has been shown to be specifically overexpressed in HPV-related carcinomas and premalignant lesions of the uterine cervix, oral cavity, and anus, but the presence of p16 vulvar squamous lesions has not been examined. We have evaluated the immunohistochemical expression of p16 in a series of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded vulvar carcinomas and their putative precursors. p16 was strongly positive in all cases of basaloid/condylomatous VIN3 (30/30) and basaloid (7/7) and warty (3/3) carcinomas. In contrast, p16 was almost consistently negative in normal skin, squamous cell hyperplasia (0/20), lichen sclerosus (0/19), differentiated (simplex) VIN3 (0/11), verrucous carcinoma (0/2), and keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma (3/33, 9%). One of the keratinizing squamous cell carcinomas positive for p16 occurred in a 25-year-old woman and the other two were associated with small foci of basaloid VIN3 adjacent to the tumor, suggesting a probable relationship with HPV. p16 was positive in 6 of 10 of basal cell carcinomas. In conclusion, p16 immunostaining is a good discriminator between HPV-associated and HPV-unrelated vulvar carcinomas and VIN, although it cannot differentiate basaloid squamous and basal cell carcinoma.     

Presence of Oncogenic HPV DNAs in Cervical Carcinoma Tissues and Pelvic Lymph Nodes Associating with Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen Expression

The presence of oncogenic HPV DNAs (HPV-16/18) in cervical carcinomas and their normal and metastatic pelvic lymph nodes and the expression patterns of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in cervical carcinomas were retrospectively studied to elucidate the possible roles of them in malignant transformation and progression of the disease. HPV-16/18 DNAs were detected by polymerase chain reaction using HPV E6 type-specific primers in 79 patients with cervical cancer: 31 patients who had pelvic lymph node metastasis (group I) and 48 patients without pelvic lymph node metastasis (group II) who were proven by pathologic examination of surgical specimens. HPV-16 or -18 DNAs were detectable in cervical carcinoma tissues in 60 patients from 79 cervical cancer patients (75.9%; HPV-16 was 67.1% and HPV-18 was 8.9%). HPV DNAs were amplified from metastatic pelvic lymph nodes in 13 patients of group I (42%) and from nonmetastatic lymph nodes in 7 group I patients (22.5%). Recurrence was identified in 9 group I patients (29.0%) in 3 years of follow-up. HPV DNAs were amplified from nonmetastatic lymph nodes in 11 group II patients (22.9%). Two group II patients, who had HPV-16 DNA by PCR in nonmetastatic nodes, were recurrent. PCNA was overexpressed in 66.7% of HPV-16- or -18-positive cervical cancers and 16.7% of HPV-16- or -18-negative cervical cancers. However, the expression levels of PCNA in cervical cancers were not influenced by the presence of oncogenic HPV DNA or pathologic metastasis in the pelvic lymph nodes. In conclusion, HPV DNA could be amplified from some metastatic and nonmetastatic pelvic lymph nodes and the detectability of oncogenic HPV DNA in pelvic lymph nodes may represent the poor outcome in the treatment of disease. The expression of PCNA protein which was associated with presence of oncogenic HPV DNAs in cervical cancers, suggesting activation of S phase of cell cycle, may contribute to the malignant progression by HPV-16 or -18.     

Vulvar squamous cell carcinoma is a multifactorial disease following two separate and independent pathways.

Two separate pathways leading to vulvar carcinoma have been suggested. First, a human papillomavirus (HPV)-dependent pathway, in which premalignant stages of vulvar cancer are the classic vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) lesions. Second, an HPV-independent pathway, associated with differentiated VIN III lesions and/or lichen sclerosus. To obtain insight into the mechanisms underlying these pathways, we determined the relationship between HPV DNA and the expression of p14(ARF) and p16(INK4A) in non- and (pre)malignant vulvar lesions. Seventy-three archival samples of non- and (pre)neoplastic vulvar lesions were selected and tested for hr-HPV DNA using a broad-spectrum HPV detection/genotyping assay (SPF(10)-LiPA) and the expression of p14(ARF) and p16(INK4A). The prevalence of HPV increased with the severity of the classic VIN lesions; in VIN I no hr-HPV was detected, in VIN II 43%, and in VIN III 71% of the samples were hr-HPV-positive. Roughly the same was true for the expression of p14(ARF) and p16(INK4A). The simultaneous expression of p14(ARF) and p16(INK4A) was highly associated with the presence of hr-HPV DNA. Hr-HPV was detected in only a single case of the differentiated VIN III lesions, whereas no expression of p14(ARF) was found and 16(INK4A) was present in only two cases. All 16 samples of vulvar cancer were hr-HPV DNA- negative, although in respectively 63% and 25%, p14(ARF) and p16(INK4A) was expressed. No relation was found between hr-HPV and the expression of p14(ARF) and p16(INK4A) in the 20 nonneoplastic vulvar lesions. Our results provide further evidence that vulvar squamous cell carcinoma is a multifactorial disease that develops from two different pathways. First, an HPV-dependent pathway with a remarkable resemblance to CIN lesions and cervical carcinoma and second, an HPV-independent pathway in which differentiated VIN III lesions that are hr-HPV-negative may be precursors.