p53 expression in concurrent chemoradiotherapy with docetaxel for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
The current study aimed to evaluate the significance of an immunohistochemical assessment of tumor suppressor p53 as a prognostic marker in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients treated with docetaxel and radiotherapy.


METHODS
The expression of tumor suppressor p53 and its phosphorylated form at the Ser392 residue was retrospectively evaluated by immunohistochemistry in 51 Stage T1-3N0-2M0 (except T1N0 glottis) HNSCC patients who were treated with 10mg/m(2)/week docetaxel four to six times and received concurrent chemoradiotherapy.


RESULTS
Kaplan-Meier univariate analysis revealed that no difference in rates for overall and disease-free survival (DFS) between patients with p53-positive and -negative tumors (p=0.786 and p=0.924, respectively). The prognostic significance of phosphorylated p53 at the Ser392 residue was neither observed.


CONCLUSIONS
An immunohistochemical assessment of the expression of p53 and its phosphorylated form might not be of clinical use in defining subgroups of patients with poor prognosis.
Oridate
Nobuhiko
N
Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Kita 15, Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan. noridate@med.hokudai.ac.jp
Homma
Akihiro
A
Higuchi
Eisaku
E
Suzuki
Fumiyuki
F
Hatakeyama
Hiromitsu
H
Mizumachi
Takatsugu
T
Furusawa
Jun
J
Taki
Shigenari
S
Furuta
Yasushi
Y
Fukuda
Satoshi
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D000077143:Docetaxel; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011379:Prognosis; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D043823:Taxoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D043823:Taxoids; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D000077143:Docetaxel