title: Prognostic value of p53 protein overexpression in upper tract urothelial carcinomas in Taiwan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  p53 plays an important role in maintaining genomic stability and regulating the cell cycle. However, the accumulation of p53 protein has been reported to be involved in the carcinogenesis, progression, and metastasis of many types of human cancer. This study evaluates the clinical significance of p53 expression in upper tract urothelial carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  One-hundred and twelve cases of upper tract urothelial carcinoma were included in this study. p53 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and the association of p53 expression with clinicopathological variables was analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  p53 expression was significantly correlated with patients who were undergoing hemodialysis (p=0.005) and had increased serum creatinine levels (p=0.001). High p53 expression was associated with poor progression-free (p=0.025) and cancer-specific survival (p=0.021), Cox regression analysis also revealed that p53 was an independent predictor of poor progression-free (hazard ratio=3.74, p=0.025) and cancer-specific (hazard ratio=5.87, p=0.030) survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that p53 expression is a potential biomarker for predicting patient survival. Further study is necessary to investigate the role of p53 in the carcinogenesis of upper tract urothelial carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, No. 100, TzYou 1st Road, Kaohsiung City 807, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Yi-Chen
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Wen-Jeng
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Wei-Ming
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hui-Hui
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chun-Nung
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chee-Yin
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.forename: Lin-Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Hui-Li
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Hung-Lung
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Ke
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D013624:Taiwan; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: C495901:TP53 protein, human; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53