HPV infection and its correlation with p16,p53 and E2F-1 expression in cancer tissues in patients with lung cancer

HAN Mei; SI Haipeng; KE Fei; ZHANG Yifen; FENG Xiaomin; WANG Xiaoxiao

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-3429.2025.23.011

Abstract：Objective To explore human papillomavirus(HPV)infection and its correlation with p16,p53 and E2F-1 expression in cancer tissues in patients with lung cancer.Methods A total of 106 patients with lung cancer confirmed between August 2020 and August 2023 were enrolled as the research subjects.According to detection results of HPV-DNA,they were divided into HPV-positive group(n=20)and HPV-negative group(n=86).The expressions of p16,p53 and E2F-1 in cancer tissues were detected by immunohistochemical staining,and the relationship between HPV infection and clinicopathological characteristics in patients with lung cancer was observed.The expressions of p16,p53 and E2F-1 were observed between HPV-positive patients and HPV-negative patients,as well as among HPV-positive patients with different pathological characteristics.The correlation between p16 expression and p53,E2F-1 expression was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis.Results There were significant differences in the degree of tissue differentiation and lymph node metastasis between HPV-positive group and HPV-negative group(P<0.05,P<0.01).The positive expression rates of p16,p53 and E2F-1 in HPV-positive group were all higher than those in HPV-negative group(P<0.05).Similarly,the positive expression rates of p16,p53 and E2F-1 in patients with low differentiation were higher than those with moderate-high differentiation,which were higher in patients with lymph node metastasis than in those without metastasis(P<0.05).Spearman correlation analysis showed that p16 expression in cancer tissues was negatively correlated with p53 expression(r=-0.423,P<0.05),while positively correlated with E2F-1 expression(r=0.556,P<0.01).Conclusion HPV infection is predominantly type 16 in patients with lung cancer.The expressions of p16,p53 and E2F-1 in cancer tissues in HPV-positive patients are all higher than those in HPV-negative patients,and the expression of p16 in cancer tissues is negatively correlated with p53,but positively correlated with E2F-1.