P53 protein expression in oral squamous cell cancer in relation to some of its clinicopathological variables

Oral squamous cell cancer develops through a multistep process by the accumulation of genetic and phenotypic changes. Loss of P53 tumor suppressor gene function represents the most common genetic lesion in human cancer. The significance of P53 expression for the development and progression of oral squamous cell cancer has still to be evaluated. The aim of this study was to estimate relationships between P53 protein expression and some clinicopathological variables of established or presumed prognostic value. A series of 129 oral squamous cell cancers was investgated retrospectively for expression of P53 protein by immunohistochemistry of paraffin-embedded tissue sections. The slides were stained with H+E and by immunohistochemistry with anti-human P53 antibody. Positive immunohistochemical staining for P53 protein was present in 75 (58%) oral cancer cases. There were no statistically significant correlations between oral cancer P53 expression and tumor site, grading, mitotic index, invasive margin type, as well as patients age and sex. Our results suggest that immunohistochemical overexpression of P53 is an important markerof accomplished neoplastic transformation in oral cavity lesions but it does not play a crucial role in the tumor progression.