Abstract: PURPOSE: To exploring the expression of PV16E6 gene and p53 gene in patients with oral carcinoma and the correlation between pathological grade and clinical stage of oral cancer and expression of HPV16E6 gene and p53 gene. METHODS: One hundred and seventy-three cases of oral cancer, 98 cases of oral precancerous lesions and 79 cases of peri-cancerous normal tissue were selected. The expression of HPV16E6 and p53 was detected by immunohistochemistry. The data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0 software package. RESULTS: In oral carcinoma, the expression rate of HPV16E6 was 81.5% (141/173), the expression rate of p53 was 23.7% (41/173); in oral precancerous lesions, the expression rate of HPV16E6 was 39.8% (39/98), the expression rate of p53 was 57.1% (56/98); in peri-cancerous normal tissues, the expression rate of HPV16E6 was 2.5%(2/79), the positive expression rate of p53 was 89.9%(71/79). There was significant difference in the positive expression rate of p53 and HPV16E6 among 3 groups. The expression of HPV16E6 in oral cancer was significantly higher than in the other two groups(P<0.05); the expression rate of p53 in oral cancer was significantly lower than the other two groups. In addition, with the advance of clinical stage and pathological grade, the positive expression rate of HPV16E6 increased gradually, while the positive expression rate of p53 was significantly decreased (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: HPV16E6 protein and p53 protein may play an important role in the occurrence and progress of oral cancer.

Key words: HPV16E6, p53, Oral cancer