[P53 protein in adenocarcinoma of the large intestine]

P53 gen mutations play significant role in neoplastic transformation of colorectal mucosa. We investigated p53 immunostaining in 80 cases of spontaneous human colorectal adenocarcinomas (with monoclonal DO7 antibody and LSAB+ kit). We found positive, nuclear p53 immunostaining in 64% of nonmucinous adenocarcinoma tissues and in 19% of mucinous adenocarcinomas tissues. P53 protein deposits were most often found in colorectal adenocarcinomas localised in rectum (66.67%) and in advanced (Dukes C, D) colorectal adenocarcinomas (59.38%) as well. There was no statistical significance between the p53 positive immunostaining and the histological differentiation of the colorectal adenocarcinomas. The overall survival of patients with tumours positive for p53 protein was significantly shorter than that of patients with colorectal cancers negative for p53 protein. We conclude that p53 immunohistochemical analysis may be treated as a supplementary prognostic marker for patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma, especially it may be useful for adjuvant therapy selection.