Overexpression of p53 as a possible prognostic factor in human thyroid carcinoma

A total of 110 cases of thyroid carcinomas were examined immunohistochemically to evaluate the overexpression of mutant forms of p53 protein in the light of their relationship with their histological subtypes. A polyclonal antibody, CM-1, was applied to the routine formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues for this survey. Overall, immunohistochemically detected p53 expression confined to the nucleus was identified in 22.7% of the thyroid carcinomas. A significant difference in the positivity of p53 among histological subtypes was noted; the positivity was 11.1% of the cases in well-differentiated papillary carcinoma, 14.3% in well-differentiated follicular carcinoma, 40.9% in poorly differentiated carcinoma, and 63.6% in undifferentiated carcinoma. No immunohistochemical positivity was found in adjacent non-neoplastic tissues or in benign lesions, including follicular adenoma, adenomatous goiter, and chronic thyroiditis. These results suggest that overexpression of p53 is not a responsible factor for the oncogenesis itself, but rather that it plays a crucial role in aggressive subtypes of thyroid carcinomas. Additionally, the distinct entity of poorly differentiated carcinoma, previously categorized in the well-differentiated carcinoma under the name of papillary or follicular carcinoma, was statistically confirmed.