Overexpression of p53 protein is common in cervical carcinoma. We investigated archival biopsies from 26 cervical cancer patients (24 with available lymph nodes) to determine the relationship between p53 overexpression and HPV infection at the cervix and lymph nodes. Twelve cervical carcinoma patients had p53 protein in cervical biopsies detectable by immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibody DO-1, and 22 were positive for HPV DNA in polymerase chain reaction assays (16, contained HPV-16; 3, HPV-18; and, 3 HPV-X). Seven cervical cancer patients had one or more lymph nodes positive for p53 protein, and all but one of these were concordantly p53 positive at the cervix. However, detection of p53 protein in cervical biopsies was predictive neither of the expression of p53 at draining lymph nodes (P > 0.1) nor of the occurrence of metastases (P > 0.1). Fourteen patients were positive at one or more lymph nodes for HPV DNA. Cervical positivity for HPV DNA was associated significantly with concordant HPV positivity at the lymph nodes (P = 0.039) and was predictive of metastases (P = 0.019). There was no association between positivity for p53 and for HPV DNA at primary cervical carcinomas or at the lymph nodes (all P > 0.1). We conclude that, although detectable p53 protein is a common feature of cervical carcinomas, it is not predictive of metastases and is independent of HPV infection.