Overexpression of p53 protein in benign and malignant laryngeal epithelial lesions

This study investigated the immunohistochemical expression of p53 protein in various laryngeal lesions using Kambic's classification from simple hyperplasia to invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and analyzed the relationship between p53 protein overexpression and the severity of epithelial abnormalities. p53 overexpression was observed in 10/19 (53%), in 9/16 (56%), and in 9/13 (69%) cases of simple, abnormal, and atypical hyperplasia respectively, and also in 8/10 (80%) cases of SCC. The proportion of immunoreactive cells and staining intensity increased with the progression of the epithelial hyperplastic lesions. Our study confirms the association of p53 protein overexpression with laryngeal epithelial hyperplastic lesions which have the potential to transform into malignancy, but considering the follow-up of the patients, p53 expression cannot be considered a reliable prognostic factor for any group of laryngeal epithelial hyperplastic lesions regardless of the severity of the lesions.