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Racial disparity in overexpression of the p53 tumor suppressor gene in stage I endometrial cancer
S L Clifford1, C P Kaminetsky, F D Cirisano
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology/Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Objective:
This study was conducted to determine whether overexpression of the p53 tumor suppressor gene is associated with poor outcome in early-stage endometrial cancers and whether a racial difference in the frequency of p53 overexpression contributes to the observed racial disparity in survival rates.
Study Design:
Immunostaining for the p53 gene was performed in 164 women with stage I endometrial adenocarcinomas.
Results:
Overexpression of mutant p53 protein was seen in 28 out of 164 (17%) cases and was associated with a poor histologic grade (p = 0.003) and a nonendometrioid histologic appearance (p = 0.06). Overexpression also was three times more frequent in blacks (15 out of 44, 34%) than in whites (13 out of 117, 11%) (p = 0.003). Recurrent disease developed in 15 out of 164 (9%) cases and was more than twice as frequent in cases when the p53 gene was overexpressed (5 out of 28, 18%) than in cases with normal expression (10 out of 136, 7%). Recurrent disease was seen in 6 out of 44 (14%) blacks compared to 9 out of 117 (8%) whites.
Conclusions:
These data support the hypothesis that differences in the frequency of alteration of the p53 tumor suppressor gene contribute to the racial disparity in endometrial cancer survival.