Evaluation of p16 Immunohistochemical Stain Expression in Cervical Cancer and Its Correlation with Clinico-Pathological Findings

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate p16 immunohistochemical expression in cervical squamous cell carcinoma and determine its association with demographic and clinicopathological characteristics.

Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study included 96 histopathologically confirmed cases of cervical squamous cell carcinoma evaluated at Chughtai Lab Lahore, Pakistan. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections were stained for p16 using standard immunohistochemistry protocols. Associations between p16 expression and age group, menstrual status, histological grade, and clinical presentation were analyzed using the Pearson chi-square test. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: p16 positivity was observed in 84 of 96 cases (87.5%). There was no statistically significant association between p16 expression and menstrual status (p = 0.395), histological grade (p = 0.633), or age group distribution (p = 0.403). Clinical presentation showed a significant association with p16 expression (p = 0.015). Notably, all patients presenting with abnormal uterine bleeding were p16-positive (28 of 28, 100.0%), whereas p16-negative cases were more frequent among those presenting with postmenopausal bleeding and vaginal discharge.

Conclusion: p16 is highly expressed in cervical squamous cell carcinoma in this Pakistani cohort and demonstrates a significant association with clinical presentation, particularly abnormal uterine bleeding. These findings support the role of p16 as a useful adjunct biomarker in routine diagnostic evaluation of cervical cancer. Incorporation of p16 immunohistochemistry may enhance diagnostic accuracy in resource-limited settings where HPV testing is not widely available.