Influence of HPV16/18 infection on expressions of p16~(Ink4a) and Rb proteins in adenocarcinoma of cervix

Purpose To study the expression of human papilloma viruses 16 and 18 (HPV16/18) DNA and the cell cycle proteins of p16~ Ink4a and Rb in cervical adenocarcinoma and the influence of HPV16/18 infection on expressions of p16~ Ink4a and Rb protein. Methods The expressions of HPV16/18DNA and p16~ Ink4a and Rb proteins were determined by tissue microarray combined with in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry in 86 cases of cervical adenocarcinoma,15 cases of endocervical glandular dysplasia and 24 cases of cervical chronic inflammation. Results The positive rates of HPV16/18 DNA in cervical adenocarcinoma and glandular dysplasia were 65.1% and 46.7% respectively, which significantly higher than that in cervical chronic inflammation (8.3%, P0.01); The positive rate of p16~ Ink4a protein in cervical adenocarcinoma was 74.4%, which was significantly higher than that in cervical chronic inflammation (33.4%, P0.01); The positive rate of Rb protein in cervical adenocarcinoma was 33.7%, which was slightly lower than that in cervical chronic inflammation (45.8%), but without statistic significance (P0.05). There was no relationship between HPV16/18 infection and the pathological grades or histological subtypes. However, there was positive correlation between HPV16/18 infection and p16~ Ink4a protein expression (P0.05) . The expressions of p16~ Ink4a and Rb proteins were also related to the pathological grades. The positive rate of p16~ Ink4a was significantly higher in G_2 and G_3 than that in G_1(P0.05), and that of Rb was significantly lower in G_3 than in G_1 (P0.05). The expression of p16~ Ink4a was related to the histological types, and the levels of p16~ Ink4a were significantly higher in endometrioid adenocarcinoma than in clear cell adenocarcinoma (P0.05). Conclusions The pathogenesis of cervical adenocarcinoma may be related to the infection of HPV16/18, which may influence the expressions of p16~ Ink4a and Rb proteins, induce the occurrence of the cervical adenocarcinoma and might play an important role in the development of the adenocarcinoma.