Expression of p53 Protein in Endometrial Carcinoma

Kim, Mi Jin; Kim, Dong Suk

Abstract

The mutation of p53, a tumor suppressor gene, has been considered to play an important role in tumorigenesis in a variety of human cancers and the abnormal expression of p53 are frequently associated with poor prognosis. In order to examine the association of p53 overexpression with known prognostic factors including estrogen receptors (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR), we studied the status of p53 protein expression by immunohistochemical staining of paraffin sections of 29 endometrial carcinoma (25 endometrioid carcinoma, 2 clear cell carcinoma, and 2 serous carcinoma), obtained from hysterectomy. The results were as follows: The expression of p53, ER, and PR was present in 9/29 (31%), 3/29 (16%), and 12/29 (48%), respectively. The expression of p53 in endometrioid adenocarcinoma was present in 6/25 (24%) and showed significant correlation with histologic grade, nuclear grade, and myometrial invasion. The status of PR showed significant inverse correlation with histologic grade, nuclear grade and myometrial invasion. There was no significant correlation between ER status and these histologic factors. The expression of p53 was inversely associated with the status of PR, but statistically not significant. Our results indicate that p53 may be useful in predicting prognosis in endometrial carcinoma and will be able to provide helpful information in predetermination of aggressive behavior of the tumor in evaluation of curettage specimen.