P53 EXPRESSION IN MULTICENTRIC SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA AND SURROUNDING SQUAMOUS EPITHELIUM OF THE UPPER AERODIGESTIVE TRACT - IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF 95 LESIONS
Y. Nakanishi et al., P53 EXPRESSION IN MULTICENTRIC SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA AND SURROUNDING SQUAMOUS EPITHELIUM OF THE UPPER AERODIGESTIVE TRACT - IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF 95 LESIONS, Cancer, 75(7), 1995, pp. 1657-1662
Background. It is now well documented that patients with squamous cell
carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract frequently develop additio
nal squamous cell carcinoma in the same field. Methods. p53 expression
in 95 patients with multicentric squamous cell carcinoma and in squam
ous epithelia surrounding multicentric squamous cell carcinomas of the
upper aerodigestive tract in 20 patients was examined by immunohistoc
hemistry. In addition, p53 expression in 129 patients with supposedly
unicentric squamous cell carcinoma and in squamous epithelia surroundi
ng unicentric squamous cell carcinoma in 22 patients was also examined
by immunohistochemistry.Results. Among the 95 patients with multicent
ric squamous cell carcinoma, 62 (65%) had a clearly positive reaction
for p53 protein, whereas 56 (43%) of 129 patients with unicentric squa
mous cell carcinoma had a positive reaction for p53 protein. The frequ
ency of positive nuclear p53 staining in multicentric squamous cell ca
rcinoma appeared higher than that in unicentric squamous cell carcinom
a. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups
. Among the nondysplastic squamous epithelia surrounding multicentric
squamous cell carcinomas in 20 patients, 12 (60%) were p53 positive, w
hereas only five (22%) of 22 patients with nondysplastic squamous epit
helia surrounding unicentric squamous cell carcinomas were positive. T
he difference between the two groups was significant (P < 0.05). Concl
usions. The present results suggest that nuclear accumulation of p53 i
n the squamous epithelium surrounding multicentric squamous cell carci
noma is probably due to heavier exposure and increased susceptibility
to mutagens of the affected individuals, although this remains to be v
erified.