P53 AS A MARKER OF THE MALIGNANT-CELL IN HODGKINS-DISEASE

Background: The p53 gene has a tumor-suppressor function. The mutated gene encodes for a protein which has a longer half-life than the norma l p53 protein. This enables the detection of the mutated p53 protein b y immunohistochemistry. Materials and methods: In this study we examin ed 53 lymph nodes of patients with Hodgkin's disease for the presence of p53. The lymph nodes were stained with DO-1 and CM-1, two antibodie s directed against the p5 3 protein. Results. DO-1 weakly stained 2/14 samples positively, and CM-1 10/25. When preincubated with Target Unm asking Fluid, CM-1 stained 51/53 samples positively. Although, only Ho dgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells stained positively, p53-negative Hodgki n and Reed-Sternberg cells were also seen in the same sample. Conclusi on: Based on these results, we conclude that the p53 mutated protein i s present in a high number of cases with Hodgkin's disease, which is s uggestive for an important event in the pathophysiology of the disease . In addition, because of the absence of positive staining in the surr ounding lymphocytes, these cells are unlikely to be part of the malign ant clone.