Type of human papillomavirus and expression of p53 in elderly women with cervical cancer

To clarify the age-related genetic events in cervical cancer in elderly (>==65 years) women, 66 tissue specimens obtained from patients with stage Ib-IIb cervical carcinoma among two groups of women, 64 years of age or younger and 65 years of age and older, were analyzed for human papillomavirus (HPV) typing via polymerase chain reaction, the expression of p53 via immunohistochemical study, and clinical behavior. The prevalence of HPV DNA was higher in the younger group than in the older group (84.0 vs. 50.0%) as was the detection rate of HPV 16 (44.0 vs. 6.3%). In contrast, HPV 18, 33, 52, 58, and X were frequently detected in older patients. The positive rate of p53 overexpression in the older group was similar to that in the younger group (46.7 vs. 48.8%). There was no significant difference in the incidence of lymph node metastasis, histology, and the distribution of clinical stage between the two groups. Thus, in elderly Japanese women with stage Ib-IIb, the association of HPV of types other than HPV 16 is suggested to influence the progression of cervical cancer.