EXPRESSION OF P53 IN GASTRIC-CANCER - PRO GNOSTIC VALUE

P53 gene mutation has been described with variable frequency in gastri c cancer and its biological significance remains unclear. We studied 1 01 gastric carcinomas to evaluate the association between this genetic alteration and the evolution of gastric cancer. Of these, 67 patients were men and 34 were women. The median age at diagnosis was 68 years. The tumors were obtained from gastrectomies. The p53 gene mutation wa s determined with the monoclonal antibody DO7 (Novocastra). The neopla sms were classified as tumors with high or low level p53 expression ac cording to the intensity and distribution of the nuclear staining. For ty eight tumors showed high level of p53 immunoreactivity. The associa tion of p53 expression with age, sex, tumor size, histologic type, his tologic grade, depth of invasion, localization, lymph node metastases, type of surgery and 5 year survival rate was investigated. The result s did not demonstrate any significant association between p53 expressi on and the factors mentioned above.