title: Immunohistochemical detection of p53 protein in human prostatic cancer.
abstract: Tissue sections from 73 radical-prostatectomy specimens were studied immunohistochemically for the presence of p53 protein. In seven specimens numerous tumor cells showed a strong nuclear immunostaining. An additional 27 revealed a more discrete and focal accumulation of p53 protein. Comparison of the pathologic characteristics of the p53-negative and -positive groups showed that the presence of p53 protein closely correlated with more advanced tumor stages (p < 0.00001), with higher primary (p = 0.0004), combined (p < 0.0001) and worst (p < 0.0001) Gleason grades, and with larger total (p = 0.0001) and high-grade (p < 0.0001) tumor volumes. No staining was found in areas of benign hyperplasia or in well-differentiated tumor zones. Our results suggest that the accumulation of p53 protein to immunohistochemically detectable concentrations is not a feature of low-grade cancer. This finding implies that abnormal p53 accumulation might be involved in the process of prostatic cancer progression.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, University of Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Henke
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Krüger
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ayhan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hübner
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hammerer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huland
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53