ORIGINAL PAPER The preliminary study of p53 codon 72 polymorphism and risk of cervical carcinoma in Gabonese women Samira Zoa Assoumou • Anicet Luc M. Boumba • Angelique Ndjoyi-Mbiguino • Abdelkrim Khattabi • Moulay Mustapha Ennaji Received: 7 August 2014 / Accepted: 1 October 2014 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014 Abstract Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer- related death in Africa and the first most common cancer in Gabonese women due to infection of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV). However, other cofactors such as genetic factors also come into play. A common polymor- phism of the p53 codon 72 in exon 4 with two alleles encoding arginine or proline is known at this locus. The homozygous arginine form of this polymorphism has been associated with the development of cervical cancer as an increased genetic risk factor. However, the results are still controversial. This study aims to investigate whether the genotype distribution of p53 codon 72 may be a risk factor for cervical cancer among Gabonese women. Samples from 102 Gabonese women, 31 diagnosed with cervical cancer and 71 healthy controls, were used. HPV detection was done by nested PCR with MY09/11 and GP5?/6? primers followed by sequencing for HPV genotyping. p53 codon 72 polymorphism determination was performed by allele- specific PCR assay. Viral DNA was detected in 87.1 % of cases and in 54.93 % of control. HPV 16 was the most predominant in cancer and controls cases. The distribution of Arg/Arg, Arg/Pro and Pro/Pro genotypes was 35.5, 51.6 and 12.9 % in the cervical cancer group and 22.5, 62 and 15.5 % in the control group. No significant association was found between polymorphism of p53 itself as well as in combination with HPV16/18 infection and risk of devel- opment of cervical cancer among Gabonese women. Thus, the polymorphism of p53 codon 72 in exon 4 does not seem to play a role in the development of cervical cancer among Gabonese women. Keywords p53 codon 72 Á Polymorphism Á Cervical cancer Á Human papillomavirus Á Gabonese women Introduction Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide and the first type of cancer among Gabonese women. Infection with high-risk oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) is closely linked to the development of cervical cancer. Indeed, HPV DNA was found in more than 90 % of cervical cancer cases [1]. Among the high-risk HPV, genotype 16 and 18 are most frequently detected in cervical cancer worldwide [2]. The oncogenic potential of high-risk HPV is due to the activity of two major oncoprotein E6 and E7 [3]. The E7 oncoprotein can bind and inactivate the retinoblastoma cellular tumor suppressor protein pRb. On the other hand, E6 oncoprotein binds to the p53 cellular tumor suppressor protein and induces its degradation through the ubiquitin pathway [4]. HPV is the first sexually transmitted infection but only a small fraction of women infected develop cervical cancer. S. Z. Assoumou Á A. L. M. Boumba Á M. M. Ennaji (&) Laboratoire de Virologie, Microbiologie et Qualite ´/ Ecotoxicologie and Biodiversite ´, Faculte ´ des Sciences et Techniques de Mohammedia, Universite ´ Hassan II Mohammedia Casablanca, BP 146, Mohammedia 20650, Maroc e-mail: m.ennaji@yahoo.fr S. Z. Assoumou Á A. L. M. Boumba Á A. Khattabi Laboratoire d’Agroalimentaire et Sante ´, De ´partement de Biologie Applique ´e, Faculte ´ des Sciences et Techniques de Settat, Universite ´ Hassan 1er Settat, BP 577, Settat, Maroc A. Ndjoyi-Mbiguino Laboratoire de Re ´fe ´rence IST/Sida, Laboratoire de Re ´fe ´rence Rougeole, Rube ´ole et Fie `vre jaune, De ´partement de Bacte ´riologie et Virologie, Faculte ´ de Me ´decine et des Sciences de la Sante ´, Universite ´ des Sciences de la Sante ´, BP 4009, Libreville, Gabon 123 Med Oncol (2015) 32:281 DOI 10.1007/s12032-014-0281-4