p53 tumor supresor gene in digestive cancer

Malignant diseases of the digestive tract cause more than 50% of deaths due to cancer in Chile. There is a high incidence of gastric and gallbladder c ancer and an increasing frequency of colorectal cancer. P53 tumor suppresso r gene has a great importance in carcinogenesis and its alterations are spe cially important in digestive tract tumors such as colorectal cancer. There is contradictory evidence about the frequency of p53 gene or protein alter ations or their biological significance. There is little information about p53 in Chile and it is mostly limited to immunohistochemical studies. This revision analyzes the frequency of p53 alterations in digestive tract tumor s in Chile, using immunohistochemical and molecular biology methods. A spec ial emphasis is given to the prognostic importance of this gene (Rev Med Ch ile 2000; 128: 1269-78).