Thus, unlike in the thyroid and in aging tissues wherein p16 accumulation results in cellular senescence, p16 accumulation in the setting of oncogenic events like RB1 loss, human papilloma virus infection and telomere dysfunction has important cytoprotective functions.39, 40, 41, 42 Together, these findings highlight the importance of taking into account the cellular context when interpreting physiologic functions of p16. Here, RB1 is linked to human papilloma virus infection.