ASSOCIATION OF P53 EXPRESSION WITH PROLIFERATIVE ACTIVITY AND POOR-PROGNOSIS IN PATIENTS WITH SQUAMOUS-CELL LUNG CARCINOMAS

Tumor tissue of 65 patients with squamous cell lung carcinoma was anal yzed for p53 expression using immunohistochemistry (DO-1) and for prol iferative activity using flow cytometry. Of the 65 cases, 17 cases (26 %) showed positive staining for p53, whereas 48 cases (74%) showed no expression. The median survival time for patients with p53-negative tu mors was 100 weeks and for patients with p53-positive tumors 30 weeks (rank-sum test, p=0.03; log-rank test, p=0.14). The median survival ti me for patients with high proliferative activity (proportion of SG(2)M -phase cells >22%) was one year and for patients with low proliferativ e activity (proportion of SG(2)M-phase cells less than or equal to 22% ) over 6 years (rank-sum test, p=0.04; log-rank test, p=0.01). There e xists a trend that p53-positive squamous cell lung carcinoma had a hig her proportion of SG(2)M-phase cells than p53-negative tumors. Multiva riate analysis found independent prognostic significance for prolifera tive activity and stage but not for p53.