Evaluation of expressions and clinical significance of p16~(INK4a) and PCNA in uterine cervix carcinoma and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the expressions and clinical significance of p16INK4a and PCNA in uterine cervix carcinoma (UCC) and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia(CIN). METHODS:The immunohistochemical staining S-P method was used to detect the expressions of p16INK4a and PCNA in 40 cases of UCC, 33 cases of CINⅡ-Ⅲ,28 cases of CINⅠ and 10 cases of normal cervix tissues. RESULTS: 1)There was no positive expression of p16INK4a in normal cervix tissues. There were statistically significant differences between the positive expression percentage of p16INK4a in UCC and that in CINⅠ,P0.01, and between the positive expression percentage in CINⅡ-Ⅲ and that in CINⅠ,P0.01, respectively. The positive expression percentage of PCNA in UCC, CINⅡ-Ⅲ and CINⅠ were significantly higher than those in normal cervix,P0.01. p16INK4a and PCNA intensities were below the order: CINⅠCINⅡ-Ⅲ UCC,P0.001. 2)The positive expression statistically and intensity of p16INK4a did not show statistically significant difference in different histological types, histological grades and clinical stages,P0.05, while that of PCNA showed a significant increase along with the progression of histological grades and clinical stages of UCC,P0.05. 3)There were significant positive correlations between the expressions of p16INK4a and PCNA in CINⅠ and CINⅡ-Ⅲ,P0.01. CONCLUSIONS: CIN Ⅰ which expresses p16INK4a has malignant pronenesses. PCNA may be used as a sensitive indicator for abnormal proliferation in CIN and UCC. The investigation of p16INK4a and PCNA may be used as a supplementary test for screening and routine diagnostics of cervical lesions in clinics.