E6/E7 Oncogenes Mutation of Human Papillomavirus Type 16 Associated with P16 Protein Expression in Cervical Cancer

The genetic composition of the E6 and E7 oncogenes is very susceptible to mutation. Mutations occur due to interactions between the viral genome and the host. Changes in one nucleotide oncogenes E6 and E7 can affect the function of these oncogenes so that they can trigger the persistence of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer progression in several intratypic variants of HPV type 16 and alteration p16 expression in cervical cancer cases. This study was conducted on cervical cancer women first diagnosed from May 2021 to November 2021 who had not received surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy. Willing to participate in the study after signing the informed consent. Cervical tissue samples with a positive test result for HPV 16 were then grouped based on the mutation sequencing of E6 and E7 into a wild-type group and a mutant group. Furthermore, the immunohistochemical examination was carried out to assess the expression of p16 protein in paraffin blocks. The results of this study showed that there was no association between mutations in the E6 and E7 oncogenes of HPV Type 16 with p16 expression (c= 0.048 and p value 0.78). The expression of p16 was stronger in the mutant group with the median percentage of cells from p16 immunohistochemistry staining which was 60.5% (range 3-73%) in the mutant group and 53% (range 2-65%) in the wild type of group. However, the correlation coefficient interval between HPV type 16 and E6 oncogene mutations with p16 protein expression is very weak.