ALTERED P53 IS ASSOCIATED WITH AGGRESSIVE-BEHAVIOR OF CHONDROSARCOMA - A LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP-STUDY

BACKGROUND, p53 is a major tumor suppressor gene that has been implica ted in the biology of a variety of human neoplasms, including some tha t affect the skeleton. Recent studies based on small numbers of cases have shown that overexpression or alteration of the p53 gene is freque ntly present in high grade, clinically aggressive chondrosarcomas of b one. In this study, the authors addressed the relation between overexp ression and alteration of the p53 gene and the clinical aggressiveness of chondrosarcoma in a large series of patients for whom long term fo llow-up data were available. METHODS. The authors analyzed the express ion and/or alteration of the p53 gene in 158 cases of chondrosarcoma o f bone using immunohistochemistry, single-strand conformation polymorp hism, and direct sequencing. They then related the findings to various clinicopathologic parameters and long term follow-up data. RESULTS. T he presence of overexpression and/or structural alterations of the p53 gene was documented in 38.1% of chondrosarcomas of bone. A statistica lly significant correlation was observed between overexpression or alt eration of the p53 gene and both che histologic grade of the tumor and the presence of metastasis. The probability of local recurrence free, metastasis free, and overall survival was significantly higher for pa tients with no overexpression or alteration of p53 than for patients w ith p53 overexpression or alteration. CONCLUSIONS. Overexpression or a lteration of the p53 gene is an important predictor of aggressive clin ical behavior in chondrosarcoma of bone. (C) 1998 American Cancer Soci ety.