The pathogenetic significance of p53 and c-Ki-ras gene mutations and genomic integration of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA was examined in surgically resected specimens of adenocarcinomas of the uterine cervix and isthmus using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), single-strand-conformation polymorphism and Southern blotting analysis. Among 25 cervical adenocarcinomas, p53 gene mutations between exons 5 and 8 were detected in 32%, and the incidence of these mutations was higher in cases at advanced clinical stages and with high grades of nuclear and structural atypia both in endocervical and in endometrioid types. HPV DNA type 16 or 18 in cervical adenocarcinomas was detected in 35% of cases by PCR and in 29% by Southern blotting, and, in contrast to the p53 mutations, the majority of cases with the HPV DNA were at a relatively early clinical stage with low-grade histological atypia. c-Ki-ras gene mutation was detected in only 4% of cervical adenocarcinomas. Among 8 isthmus adenocarcinomas, the incidence of p53 and c-Ki-ras gene mutations, and the presence and integration of HPV DNA type 16 or 18 were 38%, 50%, 57% and 25% respectively. The pattern of p53 mutations differed between isthmus and cervical adenocarcinomas: all of the mutations in the former were one-base substitutions of the transition type, whereas in the latter nearly half of the mutations were of the transversion type. Among cervical adenocarcinomas, p53 mutations between exons 5 and 8 were indicated as being mostly involved in the pathogenesis and development of biologically aggressive tumors, whereas HPV type 16 or 18 infection appeared to be involved in less aggressive cases. In isthmus adenocarcinoma, c-Ki-ras gene mutation, apart from p53 mutation and HPV-type-16 or -18 infection, appeared to be involved frequently in cancer development.