Expression of p63 (TA and deltaN isoforms) in human primary well differentiated buccal carcinomas

Abnormalities in the p53 gene have been regarded as the most consistent genetic abnormalities detected in head and neck squamous cell carcinogenesis. Two new members of the p53 gene family, p73 and p63, have recently been identified. We investigated the expression of the two N-terminal p63 isoforms (TA and deltaN isoforms) in human primary well-differentiated buccal squamous cell carcinoma. Both TAp63 and deltaNp63 isoforms were detected in the basal/suprabasal layers of all of the five specimens of normal buccal mucosa. The deltaNp63 isoform was found in all of the 23 specimens of human primary well-differentiated buccal carcinoma whereas TAp63 isoform was absent in 18 (78.3%) of the 23 specimens. The immunostaining patterns of both TAp63 and deltaNp63 isoforms were similar in that the p63 positivity was noted mainly in the peripheral cells of tumor nests whereas negative staining was observed in the areas with keratin pearl formation. A higher number of T3-T4 patients and patients with recurrence showed negative staining of TAp63 than T1-T2 patients and patients without recurrence but the difference was not statistically significant. These results suggested that specific p63 isoforms were associated with human oral squamous cell carcinogenesis. The deltaNp63 isoforms might be involved in epithelial differentiation and proliferation in human oral carcinogenesis whereas there was evidence for a possible role of TAp63 under-expression in human oral tumorigenesis.