Acta Medica Medianae
Vol. 50, No 2, June, 2011
UDK 61
ISSN 0365-4478(Printed version)
ISSN 1821-2794(Online)
 

Correspondence to:

Biljana Đorđević

Institute of Pathology

Faculty of Medicine,

University of Niš

Blvd. Dr Zorana Djindjica 48 18000 Niš, Serbia

E-mail: ibt1@sbb.rs

Original article                                

UDC: 618.146-006.6

doi:10.5633/amm.2011.0205

EVALUATION OF P16^INK4A PROTEIN AS A BIOMARKER FOR CERVICAL INTRAEPITHELIAL NEOPLASIA AND SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA OF THE UTERINE CERVIX 

Biljana Đorđević and Nikola Živković

Institute of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Niš

The association of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) is well known. Interaction of HPV proteins with cellular regulatory proteins leads to up regulation of p16INK4A. The aim of this study was to evaluate p16^INK4A protein as a biomarker for CIN lesions and squamous cell carcinoma on biopsy specimens of patients who underwent biopsy of the uterine cervix due to abnormal cytological finding.

The authors analyzed biopsies from 50 patients with CIN and invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. Expression of p16^INK4A in CIN and invasive squamous cell carcinoma was immunohistochemically analyzed by using monoclonal anti-p16^INK4A antibody.

A total of 50 patients with CIN and invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix (mean age 40.2±11.5 years, range 20-74 years) were analyzed. CIN I lesions were found in 27 (54%), CIN II/CIN III lesions in 9 (18%), and invasive squamous cell carcinoma in 14 (28%) patients. Differences in the expression of p16^INK4A between CIN I, CIN II/CIN III and squamous cell carcinoma were statistically significant (p<0.0001). Expression of p16INK4A showed low sensitivity (7%), specificity (8%), positive predictive value (8%), and negative predictive value (7%) for CIN I. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of p16^INK4A were 78%, 61%, 30%, and 93% for CIN II/CIN III, and 100%, 75%, 61%, and 100% for squamous cell carcinoma, respectively.

Results of this study suggest that p16^INK4A protein may be a sensitive biomarker for CIN II/CIN III lesions and invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. Acta Medica Medianae 2011;50(2):29-33.

      Key words: cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, squamous cell carcinoma, p16^INK4A