ASSOCIATION BETWEEN P53 OVEREXPRESSION, CELL-PROLIFERATION, TUMOR NECROSIS AND EXTENT OF APOPTOSIS IN OPERATED PANCREATIC ADENOCARCINOMA

In this study we investigated the immunohistochemical expression of th e p53 protein in 44 ductal pancreatic adenocarcinomas and its relation to cell proliferation, apoptosis and necrosis, three factors affectin g tumor growth. The results were evaluated against survival and other clinical parameters of the patients. p53-positivity was found in 18/44 (41%) of the tumors. A positive p53 status was significantly associat ed with a high extent of necrosis (greater than or equal to 10% of tum or tissue) (p=0.04, Fisher's exact test), with a high immunohistochemi cal expression of PCNA (p=0.04, Fisher's exact test) and with a high m itotic count (p=0.05, two-tailed t test). No statistically significant association was found between p53-positivity and high or low extent o f apoptosis as evaluated by in situ labeling of the 3'-ends of the DNA fragments (p=0.34, Fisher's exact test). Patient survival was not ass ociated with the p53 expression of the tumors or separately with tumor cell proliferation, apoptosis or necrosis. The results suggest that a n altered p53 function, as reflected by p53 overexpression, affects tu mor growth by promoting cell proliferation and necrosis, but does not show a significant association with the extent of apoptosis in operate d pancreatic adenocarcinoma.