F. Mayall et al., P53 IMMUNOSTAINING IS A HIGHLY SPECIFIC AND MODERATELY SENSITIVE MARKER OF MALIGNANCY IN SEROUS FLUID CYTOLOGY, Cytopathology, 8(1), 1997, pp. 9-12
Several studies have suggested that p53 immunostaining does not occur
in benign mesothelium but is common in malignancies involving the sero
us surfaces, including malignant mesothelioma. As a result, p53 has be
en advocated as a marker of malignancy in serous fluid cytology. Howev
er, the specificity of p53 in this context has been brought into quest
ion by some studies that claim to have found immunostaining in benign
mesothelium. The aim of our study was to examine p53 immunostaining in
a large series of serous fluids to try to resolve the uncertainty. Mo
noclonal Do-7 antibody was used to immunostain ethanol-fixed cytospin
preparations employing an alkaline phosphatase method. Positivity was
found in 17 of 35 malignant effusions, including two probable mesothel
iomas, but was not found in any of 115 benign effusions. Our study sug
gests that p53 immunostaining is a highly specific and moderately sens
itive marker of malignancy in serous fluids.