P-glycoprotein Correlates with p53 in HPV-Induced Uterine Cervix Lesions: Association with Poor Prognosis

Cancer of the uterine cervix is the second most common and the fifth most deadly cancer among women worldwide, and it is the principal cancer among women in most developing countries (Kent, 2010). With an overall poor survival rate cervical cancer continues to remain a key international health problem (Ferlay et al., 2002). Accomplishment of Papanicolaou (Pap) screening program to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer is successful among the developed nations (Canavan and Doshi, 2000). However, the extent of cervical cancer incidence reduction and the cost-effectiveness of such programs still remains the subject of debate in most of the developing countries. Together with these, due extremely variable natural history of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), till date it is not possible to predict which cases of CIN will progress and which will persist or regress. Objective biomarkers which allow unambiguous identification of truly dysplastic cells and/or predict disease progression is required. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is associated with the overwhelming majority of invasive squamous