Comparison of nuclear P16 immunostaining in atypical and normal endocervical glands: A descriptive analytical study

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and a major problem in the healthcare system. Nowadays, the importance of biomarkers in the diagnosis of malignancies is proven. Some studies have pointed to the role of P16 in the diagnosis of cervical cancer. The purpose of this study was to compare the nucleic reactivity with P16 antibody in atypical vs normal endocervical glands. Methods: We enrolled 60 patients who had undergone the hysterectomy due to non-endocervical causes at Alzahra University Hospital of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences to a descriptive-analytical study. We selected 25 patients with atypical endocervical glands and 35 subjects with normal glands based on the pathologic examination using hematoxylin-eosin staining. Then, we assessed the frequency of nucleic reactivity of the tissues with P16 antibody in both groups. Results: No P16 expression was observed in any of the samples from normal subjects. However, only 2 (8.0%) out of 25 samples from the atypical group, were not reactive to the P16 antibody. Also, 20 samples (80.0%) were diffusely stained continuous, whereas three samples (12.0%) were stained locally. Accordingly, in the group with atypical endocervical glands, the reaction with P16 antibody was significantly higher than that of normal endocervical glands (p= 0.001). Conclusion: P16 biomarker may play a role in the pathogenesis and progression of cervical cancer and can be used as a diagnostic marker for this purpose.