Background: A recent study suggested that the p53Arg (at residue 72) homozygous genotype could be a potential genetic risk factor for cervical cancer among white women. To confirm this result we examined the proportion of p53 genotypes in a larger number of patients with cervical cancer and in patients with squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) compared to a control population.
Materials and methods: We used allele-specific primers to amplify the p53Arg and p53Pro sequences and we examined the proportion of genotypes in the study populations using chi 2-test.
Results: The distributions of p53Arg homozygous, heterozygous and p53Pro homozygous genotypes were 63%, 27% and 10% in cervical cancer patients, 53%, 36% and 8% in individuals with SIL, and 60%, 36% and 4% in control population. Using chi-square test, no significant difference was found between genotype frequencies in the study groups.
Conclusion: Thus, the p53Arg homozygous genotype does not seem to increase the risk of cervical cancer in Hungarian women.