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

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 18236
• Main Authors: Ishikawa, Masako, Nakayama, Kentaro, Nakamura, Kohei, Yamashita, Hitomi, Ishibashi, Tomoka, Minamoto, Toshiko, Sawada, Kiyoka, Yoshimura, Yuki, Iida, Kouji, Razia, Sultana, Ishikawa, Noriyoshi, Nakayama, Satoru, Otsuki, Yoshiro, Kyo, Satoru
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group 14.09.2021; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Adenocarcinoma; Cancer; Cervical cancer; Immunohistochemistry; INK4a protein; Medical prognosis; p16 Protein; Paraffin; Patients; Prognosis; Tumor cells
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-97703-8

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.