Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the necessary cause for cervical cancer development, and the interaction of HPV-E6 with p53 is known as the most important event in HPV-associated carcinogenesis. In vitro studies have sugges ted that HPV-E6 interacts more efficiently with the arginine (Arg) p53 variant at position 72 as it appears to be more susceptible to degradation through the ubiquitin proteasome pathway. However, few reports have corroborated this data, and the role of the p53 codon 72 polymorphism in the development of cervical cancer requires further elucidation. We performed a meta-analysis review of all studies published within European populations to summarize the overall risk of this polymorphism considering the influence of the geographical/ethnic location as an important factor in defining a genetic profile and the susceptibility for cervical cancer development. Our analysis revealed that the p53 Arg/Arg genotype does not seem to represent a risk marker for the development of cervical lesions in the majority of the European countries analysed. However, in countries with low incidence rates of cervical cancer, this polymorphism might represent a significant genetic marker.

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