| Abstract [eng] |
VILNIUS UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF NATURAL SCIENCES DEPARTAMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY Sandra Armalytė Studies on the expression of cellular marker p16INK4A by quantitative PCR Summary For the diagnostics of cervical cancer cytological test (Pap smear) is commonly used. The Papanicolaou (Pap) test is a cytological staining technique, which allows the identification of asymptomatic women who have preneoplastic lesions or early cancer of the uterine cervix. The success of the Pap smear test is limited with respect to sensitivity and specificity. False negative rates for cervical premalignant lesions and cervical cancer lie between 15% and 50% and false positive rates of approximately 30% have been reported. The failure of the Pap test to eradicate this potentially preventable disease outlines the limitations of current screening programmes and emphasises the need for the identification of specific biomarkers for dysplastic epithelial cells of the cervix to aid in primary screening and lesion diagnosis. Therefore, attempts are made to detect the cellular marker p16INK4A. Protein p16INK4A, an indirect marker of cell cycle dysregulation, is commonly expressed in cervical dysplasias and carcinomas. This biomarker can help to diagnose cervical premalignant lesions or cervical cancer. More experiments are needed to confirm the diagnostic value of this marker. The aim of the current study was to investigate the expression of p16INK4A RNA by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR in specimens with cervical premalignant lesions or cervical cancer and evaluate the correlation between p16INK4A expression level and the degree of cervical intraepithelial malignancies. Expression level of p16INK4A was investigated in 567 cervical specimens. The correlation between p16INK4A RNA expression level and the degree of cervical cytological and histological alterations was statistically evaluated. The highest p16INK4A RNA expression level was observed in ASCUS and CIN1 patients and the lowest RNA expression level - in patients with normal Pap smears. In conclusion, the increased p16INK4A RNA expression level can be a diagnostic marker for ASCUS and CIN1 intraepithelial changes of cervix. |
