Demonstration and biological significance of viral and cellular oncogenes in uterine carcinomas

: Premalignant and malignant lesions of the cervix uteri and endometrium were analyzed for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA and c-myc or c-erbB2/neu oncogene expression. HPV DNA was detected by PCR in 100% of the cervical carcinomas and CIN lesions, but also in endometrial lesions (3/8 adenocarcinomas, two hyperplasias and one adenomyosis uteri). Myc-overexpression was found in 25-30% of the cervical carcinomas and severe dysplasias, but not in endometrial lesions. C-erbB2 was overexpressed in 4/11 endometrial carcinomas and 3/19 CIN3 lesions. The implications of these results are discussed.