Recently, the bcl-2 and p53 protein have been recognized as important factors that is contributed to programmed cell death. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of bcl-2 and p53 protein expression in uterine cervical carcinoma. The expression of bcl-2 and p53 in 59 cases of uterine cervical carcinoma (stage IB to IIB) were surgically treated from January 1993 to June 1994. The expression of bcl-2 and p53 was examined by immunohistochemical method using formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue specimens. The 48 cases were squamous cell carcinoma and 11 cases were adenocarcinoma. The results were as follows: 1. The expression rate of bcl-2 protein was 28.8%(17/59) and there was no significant correlaltion between the expression of bcl-2 protein and the clinicopathologic parameters (histologic type, grade, FIGO stage, cervical invasion depth, lymph node metastasis, parametrial invasion, tumor size, neoadjuvant chemotherapy response, recurrence, survival). 2. The expression rate of p53 protein was 32.2%(19/59) and there was no significant correlation between expression of p53 protein and the clinicopathologic parameters. 3. There was significant correlation between and expression of bcl-2 and p53 protein (P 0.05). In conclusion, bcl-2 and p53 protein are thought to be possible factors in the carcinogenesis of uterine cervical carcinoma and correlate with progression of it. But further study will be required to clarify the role of bcl-2 and p53 in carcinogenesis of the uterine cervix.