To investigate the effects of human wild-type p53 expression on the proliferation of cervical carcinoma cells, a plasmid, pMO7-hp53, which contains a full-length cDNA of the human wild-type p53 (wt-p53) gene, was transfected into a cell line (TMCC-1) derived from an endocervical type, human papilloma virus-positive adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix. The exogenous wt-p53 expression induced growth suppression, morphological changes, and loss of anchorage-independent growth of the tumor cells. As the wt-p53 gene apparently plays a negative role in growth regulation of cervical carcinoma cells, this gene may possibly be of some use for treating subjects with a cervical carcinoma.