Abstract: Objective · To investigate the clinical significance and predictive value of human papillomavirus (HPV) 16/18 E6 protein in the different cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Methods · The expression of HPV16/18 E6 in 10 normal cervical tissues, 33 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia Ⅰ(CIN Ⅰ), 31 CIN Ⅱ- Ⅲ , 30 cervical cancers was detected by immunohistochemistry, explored the expression difference and the relationship with the clinicopathological characteristics of cervical cancer and the prognosis of different CIN. Results · The positive expression rates of HPV16/18 E6 in normal cervical tissues, CIN Ⅰ, CIN Ⅱ-Ⅲ and cervical cancer group were up-regulated (χ 2 =19.82, P=0.000). HPV16/18 E6 increased positive expression rates in the low grade and the big size tumors of cervical cancer tissues were detected (P=0.033, P=0.011). There were positive correlations between the overexpression and the pathological grade, tumor size, poor prognosis of cervical cancers respectively (r=0.456, P=0.011; r=0.578, P=0.000; r=0.645, P=0.000). The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy rates of HPV16/18 E6 positive expression to the progression of CIN Ⅰ, CIN Ⅱ-Ⅲ and cervical cancer were respectively 100.00%, 62.50%, 43.75%; 96.77%, 91.30%, 92.86%; 96.97%, 83.87%, 66.67%. Conclusion · HPV16/18 E6 overexpression plays an important role in the generation, development and the poor prognosis of cervical cancer. HPV16/18 E6 has a good predictive value for the prognosis and hierarchical management of cervical diseases.

Key words: human papillomavirus (HPV), HPV16/18 E6, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), cervical cancer