ALTERED EXPRESSION OF P53 AND RB TUMOR-SUPPRESSOR GENES IN LUNG-CANCER - RELATIONSHIP WITH SURVIVAL

The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of altered express ion of pRb and p53, two well known tumor suppressor genes, in lung can cer and to relate it to the prognosis of the patients affected by this type of neoplasm. We evaluated 68 specimens from patients with surgic ally resected lung cancer. Of the 68 neoplasms investigated, 29 (42.6% ) displayed a positive nuclear staining for p53. Ten (15.7%) of the in vestigated tumors showed absence of pRb nuclear immunoreactivity. p53 overexpression correlated statistically with short-term survival. On t he other hand no statistically significant difference (p=ns) in surviv al was detected between pRb producers and nonproducer patients. In add ition, we divided our specimens into two groups according to the p53 a nd pRb status. The first group consisted of all the p53(+) pRb specime ns. The second group contained all the remaining specimens. Comparison between these two groups did not reveal any significant difference in overall survival time. These findings confirm that only p53 overexpre ssion can be considered an independent prognostic factor in lung cance r.