Clinical significance of p53, nm23, and bcl-2 in T3-4N1M0 oesophageal carcinoma: an immunohistochemical approach.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this retrospective study was to test whether the expression of p53, nm23, and bcl-2 in T3-4N1M0 oesophageal carcinoma is associated with patient survival.


METHODS
Immunohistochemical localisation of p53, nm23, and bcl-2 was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections (N = 46). The observed range of follow-up period was 0.2-24.0 months with a median of 11.0 months. A total of 85% (39/46) of the patients died within 24.0 months, which could be due to advanced disease at presentation. The immunohistochemical signal was expressed as the proportion of positive cells. The immunostaining for p53 was nuclear, whereas that for nm23 and bcl-2 was cytoplasmic in the neoplastic cells.


RESULTS
p53 was expressed in 70% (32/46) of cases; nm23 in 29% (13/45), and bcl-2 in 67% (29/43) of tumours. The univariate analysis showed that the expression of two markers, i.e., expression of p53 and absence of nm23 were independently associated with unfavourable overall survival time. Despite a small number of patients treated with adjuvant therapy, we observed that tumours positive for p53 had an unfavourable prognosis when compared with tumours negative for p53.


CONCLUSIONS
Our preliminary findings suggest: expression of p53 and nm23 negativity may be related to an unfavourable prognosis in patients with advanced oesophageal carcinoma.
Patel
D D
DD
Department of Surgery, Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, Asarwa, Ahmedabad, India.
Bhatavdekar
J M
JM
Chikhlikar
P R
PR
Patel
Y V
YV
Shah
N G
NG
Ghosh
N
N
Suthar
T P
TP
Balar
D B
DB
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D018196:Carcinoma, Adenosquamous / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020559:Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins; D054778:NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases; D009701:Nucleoside-Diphosphate Kinase; D011379:Prognosis; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D054778:NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D014157:Transcription Factors; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; C517938:NME1 protein, human; D009701:Nucleoside-Diphosphate Kinase; D020559:Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins