P16INK4A expression might be associated with a favorable prognosis for cervical adenocarcinoma via dysregulation of the RB pathway

Abstract

Previous studies have largely failed to clarify the relationship between p16^INK4A status and cervical adenocarcinoma prognosis. The current study aimed to examine the clinical and pathological significance of p16^INK4A expression in several cervical adenocarcinoma subtypes. Eighty-two samples collected from patients with cervical adenocarcinoma were formalin fixed and paraffin embedded. Next, p16^INK4A levels were analyzed with immunohistochemistry. Additionally, the relationship between p16^INK4A expression and clinicopathological factors as well as prognosis was evaluated. The expression of p16^INK4A was mostly detected in all usual cervical adenocarcinoma subtypes. In the gastric type, only a few cases were positive for p16^INK4A expression. Results of the Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that the positive p16^INK4A expression in tumor cells was significantly associated with favorable progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with cervical adenocarcinoma (p = 0.018 and p = 0.047, respectively, log-rank test). Our findings suggest that the status of p16^INK4A expression may influence prognosis. Thus, p16^INK4A expression could be used as a biomarker for improving the prognosis of patients with cervical adenocarcinoma.